The story of Michi
by Catten90
Summary: Follow my OC Michi as she starts a new life in Konoha after leaving her old village behind. How will her future turn out? What friends will she make? Will she find love and her long lost brother? What if the Akatsuki show up? Will there be war or can Michi keep the peace? Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Friendship. Featuring Konoha 12, Akatsuki and most main characters.
1. Chapter 1 - A safe Haven in Konoha?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto but I do own Michi!

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**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 1 – A safe haven in Konoha?_

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I ran through the forest like the hounds of hell was chasing after me, and in a way they was.

I was being chased by hunter-nins from my former village, Kirigakure. I had left the village a few months ago when I was ordered to do something that I knew was wrong despite having grown up in 'the bloody mist village'.

So I left the village and had managed to avoid the hunter-nins for two months before they had found me. I had now been on the run for two whole days and was approaching my goal fast but the hunter-nins where close on my heels.

In the second I had when the hunter-nins first found me, I had decided to try and run for Konoha. Konoha was known for its kind Hokage and I hoped for a new chance at life there.

But before I could worry about their reaction to have a missing-nin from Kirigakure at their gates, I had to get there in one piece.

I felt the chakra of three hunter-nins closing in on me and my keen hearing warned me that a kunai was headed for the back of my head. I dropped from the trees and continued my dash for freedom on the ground, zick-zacking to become a harder target.

The forest that passed me in lightning speed was lush and green and I hoped that I was getting close to Konoha, I didn´t have the energy to keep running like this for much longer.

Suddenly pain erupted in my back and I quickly concluded that one of their kunai had hit me in the shoulder, I stumbled and another two kunai impaled my body.

Pain bloomed in my leg and in my side but I gritted my teeth and kept running, if I had come this far I wasn´t going to give up when my destination was almost within reach.

And then I saw the big red gates of Konoha.

It gave my exhausted body a little extra energy and I ran as fast as I could. I knew that the hunter-nins were closing in on me; my only hope was that there was someone guarding the gate and that they would be willing to help me.

So I set my pride aside and screamed.

"HELP! Somebody help me!" I almost cried with relief when two people came running in my direction from within the gates. They were clearly ninjas and I felt the hunter-nins following me hesitate, making the small gap between us bigger.

The two Konoha-nins reached me and I stumbled and would have fallen had the one closest to me not caught me. The other one stood protectively in front of me and his comrade and demanded to know what Kiri hunter-nins were doing so far from home.

"We want the girl, she´s a missing-nin from Kirigakure. Our mission is to capture her and bring her back for her execution." The leader of the hunter-nins answered.

I looked up at the ninja that had caught me; he had an angular face with warm brown eyes. His hair was brown as well and almost reached his shoulders, he kept it away from his face by wearing his headband as a bandanna. He had a senbon in his mouth and 90 % of his attention on the hunter-nins, the other 10 % was on me.

"Please don´t let them take me!" I begged him. "I have done nothing to deserve an execution; I left the village because even I know that killing children because of who their parents are is wrong!"

The two Konoha-nin exchanged a glance and I took notice of the other ones peculiar appearance. He was rather tall, probably around 5 feet 11 inches but had a slouched stance that made him look shorter. The one holding me was probably around the same height. He had also gravity defying silver hair, a mask that covered his face and his headband tilted down over his left eye.

It was nerve racking to have my life in the hands of two strangers but I´d rather have them decide my fate than the people of Kirigakure.

If they decided to kill me I could at least count on that it would be quick and painless.

I didn´t want to think on what Kiri would do to me.

"This girl is now in the custody of Konoha, turn around and go back to Kirigakure now." The silver haired one demanded. The hunter-nins looked like they wanted to object but the leader realized that they were at disadvantage and ordered them to return to Kiri. But he did shoot both me and my two saviors some nasty looks as he did so.

The Konoha-nins were silent and on their guard until the hunter-nins were out of sight and so was I, but when they disappeared from sight I relaxed, surprising both of the Konoha-nins.

"You can´t know that we won´t kill you as well, how can you be relaxed?" The silver haired one asked me.

"Because even if you do decide to kill me it will be fast and painless as long as I don´t struggle, Kiri would keep me alive for weeks before letting me die." I explained while giving him a small, thankful smile.

"Hm, let´s go talk to the Hokage then and see what he has to say about this." I only nodded in agreement and walked behind him, the brown haired one walking behind me so that I couldn´t escape from them even if I had wanted to.

And despite not knowing if I would find my death in this village or not, I still felt a sense of relief as we passed the big red gates. At least Kiri couldn´t reach me here…

The walk through the village towards the Hokage tower was slightly uncomfortable on my part. Everywhere we went, civilians and ninja alike stared at me. That could have been because I was bloody and a foreign nin but I guessed that it was because of my appearance.

I was rather tall for a sixteen year old girl, standing at 5 feet 6 inches, but the most eye-catching was my coloring. I had a healthy tan, which was normal but together with my ocean blue hair, pale golden eyes and sharp teeth my look was rather exotic.

We soon reached the Hokage tower though, and during the climb of the never-ending stairs it was pushed to the back of my mind. The silver haired Nin knocked on a door and when he got the permission to enter, he did the other Nin and I following.

The Konoha-nins that now had taken place on either side of me kneeled in front of the elderly figure in Hokage robes and I quickly copied them, thinking that it couldn´t hurt to show some respect.

"Kakashi, Genma, please stand up." The Hokage said and they complied in one fluid movement. I stayed in my kneeling position since he hadn´t told me that I could rise.

"Please explain why there is a missing-nin from Kirigakure in my office Kakashi."

"Yes sir. Genma and I were down at the gate when we heard a call for help, naturally we investigated the situation and found this girl on the verge of collapsing, wounded and chased by Kiri hunter-nins. I asked the hunter-nins what they were doing so far from home and they replied that they were here for the girl; their mission was to bring her back to her execution. She begged us not to let them take her and explained why she had become a missing-nin and based on that I made the decision not to let them take her. Then we came here lord Hokage."

"Very well Kakashi, I believe you acted right. Girl, will you tell us your name?"

"It´s Michi, sir." I answered quietly but clearly.

"Please rise Michi-san, I would like to ask you a few questions if you don´t mind?"

"Not at all sir."

"Why did you become a missing-nin?" I had expected that question and immediately began my explanation.

"I felt that I had no choice sir. I was ordered to kill children only because their parents had been born with a kekke genkai. I am sure that you are aware of Kirigakure´s view on people with kekke genkai but the children I was ordered to kill didn´t even have their parent's kekke genkai. I was ordered to kill them only because they carried the genes for the kekke genkai and that is something that I won´t stand for."

Silence filled the room after my explanation and I felt a sliver of fear grip me before the Hokage shook his head sadly and said.

"There is something wrong with the world when children are being punished for something they have no control over… I understand why you left Michi-san and I won´t throw you to the hunter-nins because you stood for what is right. I have to ask though, what made you come here? To Konoha?"

"I came here with the hope of getting another chance at life sir; I would like to join your village as a Konoha-nin if you would allow me." I answered and lowered my head towards the ground, expecting him to turn me away but hoping for the best.

"How old are you Michi-san?" My head snapped up when he didn´t immediately reject me and I answered him.

"I am sixteen, sir."

"And what is your rank?"

"I made genin at the age of eight, chuunin at eleven and jounin at fourteen, sir."

"That´s quite a feat for someone so young Michi-san."

"I grew up in 'the bloody mist village' sir, I had to either be good or be killed."

"Ah… yes, of course. Do you know what your affinity is?"

"My dominant affinity is water, my secondary is lightning and my third is wind, sir. I also have a summon, sir."

"Water, lightning and wind is an interesting combination indeed… How about Taijutsu and Genjutsu?"

"My taijutsu is average and my Genjutsu is poor I´m afraid sir, my strength lays in ninjutsu and kenjutsu as well as in my summons, sir."

"Very well Michi-san, I have only one more question before I decide on what to do with you and that is if you would be willing to give us information on your old village, Kirigakure?"

"I will tell you everything I know sir, you only need to ask."

"Perfect! Well then Michi-san, my decision is that you may join Konoha as a jounin level ninja, however, you are to be under surveillance until I can be completely sure that you´re not a spy and during that time you will have to stay with one of our jounin all the time."

"Thank you very much sir… I mean… Hokage-sama. I will do my best to earn your trust and not to be a bother for your jounin."

Happiness flooded my system and made the ache from my tired body and the pain from the wounds to reduce a little. I gave all three men a big smile before the world around me turned black and unconsciousness wrapped its blanket around me.

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I woke to the feelings of disorientation, thirst and bone-deep ache. I blinked in confusion and the blur gave away to the image of a white hospital room with calming green curtains and bed sheets.

I looked to my right and a glass and a pitcher with water came into my vision. I eagerly poured myself a glass and emptied it in only a few gulps before refilling the glass and sipping it.

"How are you feeling Michi-san?"

The question came from my right and when I turned in that direction I came face to face with the silver haired man that saved me from the hunter-nins.

"A little confused and aching… How did I get here? And please Michi is enough." I answered and discovered that my voice still was slightly hoarse, despite the water.

"You fainted in the Hokage´s office yesterday, it turned out that one of the kunai that hit you had a slow acting poison on it. But everything is fine now, our medics removed the poison and you should be able to leave after the doctor checks you out."

"And what happens then? Where will I stay?"

"You will stay with me for now but you will probably have to move around a little with the jounin, my name is Hatake Kakashi by the way."

"Nice to meet you, I hope I´m not too much of a bother since you got stuck as my babysitter for now. If I am, just tell me and I will do my best to change."

"No worries, you seem easy enough to get along with, I´m sure we´ll be fine." He assured me and then the door opened and a man with a stethoscope around his neck entered.

"Good morning Michi-san, how are you feeling?" he greeted and started checking my vitals.

"I feel fine." I answered truthfully; I knew that the ache I felt came from running for two days straight and for almost emptying my chakra reserves.

"Excellent, I believe that you are fit enough to go home Michi-san, just take it easy for a few days." The doctor told me as he finished up his examination. He then left us and the nurse went to sign my discharge papers as changed into a standard jounin uniform, my own clothes were disgusting and was thrown in the garbage.

I then followed after Kakashi as he gave me a tour of the village before he took me to his apartment. He lived in a district that was almost only inhabited by ninjas, on the second floor in a relatively new building.

We entered straight into the large living room, the kitchen was to our right and straight ahead on the opposite wall were three closed doors that I assumed led to a bathroom and two bedrooms.

"Feel free to make yourself at home, the door to the left leads to the guest room, you can stay there. And don´t hesitate to ask if there´s something you need." Kakashi told me and I went to explore.

The guest room was clearly unused but at the same time rather homey. It had white walls, a tan carpet and dark blue curtains in front of the large window. There was a queen bed with dark blue cotton sheets, a desk and a closet.

I put my backpack down on the desk and quickly realized that I needed to buy more clothes and weapons, I was running low on both. The clothes I had were in a dire need of a good washing so I went to ask Kakashi if I could use his washing machine and if he could lend me some money so I could go shopping.

I found him in the kitchen, standing with his back against me. He had changed his clothes so that he wore only the navy blue jounin pants and a sleeveless, skintight shirt in the same color that had his face mask attached. I could see the slightly faded ANBU tattoo on his left upper arm and concluded that he must´ve joined when he was very young.

"Hatake-san? Do you have a washing machine that I could use? What clothes I have are rather dirty…" He turned around and locked his single visible eye on me before answering.

"Please call me Kakashi; Hatake-san makes me feel old… Of course, it´s in the bathroom, the middle door."

I thanked him and ventured back to my room where I gathered my clothes before I went to the bathroom. The bathroom was much larger than I had expected, containing a counter with double sinks, a tub, a large shower with frosted glass doors and a toilet as well as a washer and dryer. The color theme was white and a dark forest green.

I got the washer going before going back to the kitchen to find Kakashi at the stove, making something that smelled like tempura.

"I hope that tempura is fine? I need to go shopping for food and didn´t have the ingredients for something else."

"Tempura is fine." I answered. "I could use to do some shopping myself in fact, my supplies are running low and I could use some new outfits as well. Is it possible for me to borrow some money for that? I will pay you back as soon as I can, I promise…"

"Of course you can don´t worry about it. We´ll go shopping tomorrow before meeting the rest of the jounin´s you might encounter."

After that was decided, the conversation turned to lighter, more easygoing subjects until the food was finished. We ate in silence and I kept my head tilted down at my plate the entire time so that Kakashi could eat without me seeing his face. I figured that he probably had a reason for hiding it and that he wouldn´t wear the mask in his own apartment unless he didn´t want me to see it.

"Thank you." He told me after the dishes were done after the meal.

"For what?"

"For not bugging me about the mask, most people seem to have an unnatural obsession with seeing me without it." I only shrugged my shoulders and answered lightly.

"It´s not my business. If you hadn´t worn the mask in the apartment I might´ve asked but since you do, you clearly don´t want me to know and therefore I won´t ask." He gave me a look that told me that most people didn´t show him the same respect and he said.

"See? I knew we would get along, I just have to test one more thing…" He left the kitchen only to come back a minute later, holding an orange book that he gave to me.

I saw the title that read 'Icha Icha Paradise' and knew that it was an adult book. I wasn´t allowed to buy them but I knew what kind of story the contained. I looked up to see Kakashi examine my every movement and facial expression with a concentrated look and asked him.

"You do realize that I´m not old enough to buy these books right?" He only nodded.

"Yes but you do know what they are about?"

"Of course." I answered, still not getting why he had handed me the book in the first place. "Just because I´m not old enough to buy them doesn´t mean that I haven´t read them."

"You have read them? Then you won´t complain if I read them in public?"

"Yes I have read them and no I won´t complain. That would be hypocritical of me since I have done that as well. Besides, the cover reveals nothing inappropriate and you´re the only one that can see the text."

I was shocked when Kakashi pulled me in for a quick, hard hug but thankfully he explained that most people complained about his books and since I respected his mask he had to see if I was accepting of his choice in literature as well.

We talked for a few more hours after that, keeping the conversation away from any subject that may be a little sensitive, like my childhood in Kiri, before we went to bed.

During the day and evening with Kakashi I had realized that I might find a friend in him, despite him being ten years older than me. I changed into a t-shirt that I had borrowed from Kakashi to sleep in before crawling underneath the cool covers of the bed.

As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light, my body still recovering from running from the hunter-nins.

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The next morning I woke to the sounds of chirping birds and the sunlight on my face. I felt completely restored and it was a great feeling, to have all the energy and chakra that I was used to.

I got out of bed to dress myself and get ready for the day when I realized that all my clothes were in the dryer in the bathroom still. I looked down at the t-shirt I wore, it only reached a little past my butt but it would have to do. I opened the door a fraction and looked out to see where Kakashi was, I didn´t want him to see me like this if it was avoidable.

Sounds from the kitchen indicated that he was cooking breakfast for us and I successfully reached the safeness of the bathroom without incidents. I emptied the dryer of my clothes and choose to wear a pair of black, capri leggings underneath some dark blue cargo-pants styled shorts that were hugging my hips before loosening up. I then pulled on a black, long-sleeved mesh-shirt and a black, sleeveless top with a deep v-cut in both the front and the back. I pulled my hair back in a high ponytail and tied my new Konoha headband around my neck before leaving the bathroom.

I put all of my now clean clothes away in my bedroom before joining Kakashi in the kitchen for breakfast before going out to shop. We started with my clothes since that was the most boring and something we both wanted to be done with as fast as possible.

It didn´t take me long to pick out the clothes I needed and then we continued by visiting the weapons shop. The shopkeeper greeted Kakashi with a familiarity that indicated that he was a frequent customer.

Kakashi shuffled over to the counter and started talking about a new shipment of kunai with the shopkeeper as I browsed the store. I picked out some more standard kunai and shuriken before moving on to senbons, I had started teaching myself how to use them properly and needed more of them as well.

I then glanced at the more exotic weapons that lined the walls and found my gaze sweeping over Katanas, scythes and other large weapons. There was a lot of interesting weapons but none that really caught my eye, I already had a beautiful Katana.

I brought my other weapons up to the counter though and then Kakashi and I left to shop for groceries before returning to the apartment.

Back in the apartment we quickly put away the food and supplies before fetching our weapon pouches so that we could train a little before meeting the others. He took me to training ground three and we took our fighting stances.

Kakashi started the fight by lifting his headband and sending a powerful fireball my way, I countered it with a wall of water but when I canceled the jutsu, Kakashi was nowhere in sight.

A small change in the air behind me alerted me to his new position and I spun around, barely in time to block the punch aimed at my face. He followed up with a kick to my stomach that I had no time to block and the force of it sent me flying.

As soon as I touched the ground again my hands flew through the seals for my water dragon and it went after Kakashi with a deafening roar. But Kakashi called forth his own water dragon and the dragons fought each other in the air while Kakashi and I went into a fast and hard taijutsu battle.

The taijutsu battle ended when I managed to hit him with some of my new senbon in the right places, causing him to lose the ability of his legs temporarily. His water dragon disappeared and I dismissed my own before appearing behind Kakashi, holding a kunai lightly against his throat.

"I win." I told him confidently and he sighed but responded.

"That you do." I put away the kunai and reached down to pull the senbon out to give him back his mobility but before I had the chance to do so I was violently tackled and pinned to the ground.

The person holding me down was all muscles and didn´t give me a chance to explain myself since he had cut off my air supply by an arm around my throat. I could hear him and Kakashi yelling at each other but I couldn´t hear what over the pounding in my ears.

Even if I was slowly suffocating I still understood that I couldn´t fight back. If the one holding me down was a Konoha-nin and I fought back, it might destroy the small amount of trust that the Hokage had placed in me, so I stayed impassive even when my vision turned darker and darker.

But suddenly the pressure around my throat disappeared and I started to gulp down much needed air in between painful, body racking coughs. I was turned over onto my back and the worried face of my brown-haired savior appeared in my line of vision.

"Hey Michi, are you alright? Sorry about that, Gai didn´t know that you guys were sparring…" I coughed another couple of times before answering him.

"Yeah… I´m fine…" I took his offered hand and he pulled me to my feet, I looked up to meet his gaze and asked him.

"Genma-san, right? Thank you." He looked a little uncomfortable with my statement and corrected me.

"Genma is enough… And there´s no need to thank me." I tilted my head in confusion and said.

"Of course I should thank you, you saved me from the hunter-nins and you helped me right now. Why shouldn´t I thank you?"

"Because we´re comrades now, you don´t need to thank me for every little thing then. It's a given that comrades help each other." If anything I was even more confused now, I knew that I always helped those I worked with and those few that I had counted as friends. But in Kiri, if anyone helped another, they always wanted something in return.

"But what do you want in return for helping me then?" I asked him and watched him pale as the buzzing of the others talking died out as well.

"Michi, we don´t want anything from you." Kakashi told me in a gentle voice while moving closer to Genma and I, the others staying where they were.

"Why?"

"Because we are comrades now, and comrades are there for each other. Were things so bad in Kiri that if someone needed help they asked for something in return?" I nodded.

"Yes, money or sexual favors were the ones most used. I was an outcast in my own village because I helped people without asking for something in return."

"Well you need to get used to accepting help without any demands then. Because that´s not how it works in Konoha." Genma told me with a smile and I gave him a hesitant one in return.

Kakashi then waved the others forward so that he could introduce them. The first one was slightly taller than Kakashi and Genma, but looked to be the same age as Kakashi. He was clad in a green jumpsuit and had black hair and eyes. His headband was tied around his waist like a belt.

"Michi this is Maito Gai, he´s the one that tackled you in the beliefs that you were an enemy."

"Sorry about that, I will run 500 laps around the village to earn your forgiveness!" He exclaimed before running off.

"Ignore him." Kakashi told me and another person stepped forward, this time it was a young woman. She was about my height and also looked like she was around Kakashi´s age, perhaps a little older. She had wild black hair that was rather long and feral red eyes that held a lot of kindness within them.

Kakashi introduced her as Kurenai and then told me that the guy standing next to her was Asuma. Asuma was the tallest of them all, standing at 6 feet 2 inches, and around the same age as Kurenai. He had black hair and beard and calculating brown eyes, a lit cigarette was in his mouth and the smell of tobacco enveloped me as he greeted me.

"Can we count on you two showing up at the bar tonight?" Asuma asked Kakashi and gestured towards him and I. "Genma is dragging Kurenai and I along, as well as Gai, Anko and Iruka."

"That depends on whether Michi wants to go or not." He answered and I felt all of their gazes lock on me. I wouldn´t mind going but I wasn´t sure that the bars here worked like in Kiri, in Kiri you were allowed to go to bars when you became a genin.

"I´d like to go but I don´t know if I´m allowed, I have a feeling that the bars here have different rules than those in Kiri…"

"Why wouldn´t you be allowed? You are a jounin, are you not?" The woman, Kurenai, asked me. I shrugged and told her.

"Yes I am a jounin, but I am only sixteen…" Her jaw dropped in surprise but Asuma reassured me that I was allowed and that if there was any trouble I wasn´t there alone.

We chatted for a few more minutes before breaking up in different directions, most of us going home to prepare for a night out. As I walked back towards the apartment with Kakashi I realized that the people in Konoha were even nicer than what they were famous for and that I just might find a happier future in this village than in any other…

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**Hi Guys! Please let me know what you think. Love you!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Finding new friends?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own Michi =)

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**_Chapter 2 – Finding new friends?_**

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I was running around in my room in Kakashi´s apartment, looking for something to wear for the night out with his friends. I had just vacated the shower and was only wearing a tightly wrapped towel as I searched for clean underwear. I settled on a lacy set in a deep maroon color and pulled the items on before dropping the towel and turning towards the open closet.

I was searching through my meager collection of non-ninja clothing for something suitable to wear but before I found something I was interrupted by a shocked intake of breath behind me. I turned around and saw Kakashi standing in the open door, his face red and one of his hands covering his eyes. I had noticed during our fight earlier that the eye he kept hidden looked different, but I hadn´t been close enough to make out the details of it.

"Do you mind putting some clothes on?" He asked me calmly but in a slightly strangled voice. I looked down at my body, the underwear covered up enough in my eyes so why did he react so strongly? Did he find me ugly? I felt a little hurt but did my best to cover it up and answered him.

"I´m trying to find something suitable to wear, I´m covered enough so why don´t you stop being a baby and help me? Or do you find me that revolting?" The last part was said with a little bit of the hurt shining through and while he didn´t remove his hand from his eyes, he still answered me.

"You are not revolting Michi, the complete opposite in fact. But you are ten years my junior and I don´t go for jailbait. If you´re having problems I could ask Kurenai or Anko over to help you though." His explanation made me feel better and I told him.

"Fine, if you won´t help me, get me someone who will." But I said it with a smile that he didn´t see and turned back towards my closet as Kakashi mumbled something under his breath and left my room. Ten minutes later there was a swift knock on the door before it opened and an unknown female entered my room.

She was slightly shorter than me and looked to be a few years younger than Kakashi but a few years older than Genma who was twenty. Her hair was black with a blue tint and her eyes were a pale brown, she introduced herself as Anko.

"Kakashi said you needed help with your clothes?" I tore my eyes from her own choice of clothing, high heeled ninja sandals, mesh leggings and a tight, black dress with a deep scoop neck, the dress ending just below her butt. She also wore silver bracelets that looked like snakes wrapped around her wrists. She had the curves to fill out the outfit and while most people probably would find her clothes too revealing, I loved them.

"Yes, I haven´t much to choose from and want to look good when meeting the others while still looking like me." I told her and gestured towards the closet. Anko took one look in my closet before her face lit up with a mischievous smile.

"Hey girl you even have some great clothes in here! Unlike most of the kunoichi in this village who I am convinced are all prudes. There´s nothing wrong with showing off what you´ve got as long as the necessary parts are covered and girl, you have the body to show off. How old are you even?" I didn´t blush when she gestured towards my softly rounded hips or my c-cup chest and only answered her calmly.

"I´m sixteen and my name is not girl, it´s Michi."

"Well then Michi, how about we dress you up real pretty to mess with the boy´s minds?" She suggested with an evil smirk. I felt my own lips turn up in an equally mischievous smile and told her.

"Sounds like fun, let´s do it."

* * *

When Anko and I entered the bar about an hour later, all of the other guests turned their heads to look at us. Kakashi had left early before making sure that I would be fine with Anko so I was slightly nervous about his reaction since the way he reacted when seeing me in my underwear.

Anko was still dressed the same and she had put me in an outfit that matched her own. During the time when she played dress up with me as her doll, we had really connected and she had more or less adopted me as her baby sister. I was dressed in high heeled ninja boots that went up to the knee, mesh leggings and a short leather skirt with buckles on the sides that matched those on the boots. I also wore a short sleeveless mesh shirt underneath a black leather corset top which was tied up in the back. My hair was loose and wavy and my neck and wrists were decorated with leather cuffs and a leather choker.

Anko led me to a booth where Kakashi, Genma, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai and an unknown male were already sitting. When Genma caught sight of what I was wearing, he choked on his beer and that made all the others look up at me and Anko as well. Kakashi, Asuma and the unknown male had similar reactions to Genma, Gai was shouting something about youth that would surely give me nightmares and Kurenai was shocked speechless before she turned to Kakashi and said accusingly.

"I thought you said that Anko was going to help her choose an outfit, not dress her in one of her own."

"This is my clothes." I told her rather coldly before Kakashi had the time to answer. I felt a little annoyed with Kurenai´s reaction, was there something wrong with the way I dressed in my free time? She didn´t say anything else about my clothes but her comment had created some tension that needed to be loosened up, so Anko and Genma went to get us all some drinks while I was introduced to the only guy left in the group that I hadn´t met yet.

He was a little shorter than Genma and looked to be somewhere in between Genma and Kakashi in age. He was even more tanned than I was and had brown hair and eyes. He also had a scar that stretched over the bridge of his nose.

"Hello." He said as I took a seat next to him. "I´m Umino Iruka."

"Nice to meet you, I´m Michi." I greeted him and he told me.

"Don´t mind Kurenai, she should´ve gotten used to Anko and her style by now. But I must admit that it is a little surprising that you wear these kinds of clothes, you look rather young."

"I am sixteen." I shrugged. "But I guess that growing up in 'the bloody mist village' is rather different from growing up here. Perhaps it shows in my choice of clothes and stuff…" He seemed surprised that I was only sixteen and came from Kiri and that made me realize that only Kakashi and Genma knew why I had ended up in their lives. So when Anko and Genma returned with our drinks I gave the rest of them the slightly censured story about me and my arrival here.

When I was done, everyone but Kakashi and Genma seemed to be in different states of shock and since I felt that I had killed the mood, I gave them a small, sad smile before standing up and disappearing in a cloud of dark grey smoke. I had teleported myself back to Kakashi´s apartment but I didn´t stay there. That was the first place they would come looking for me in, if they came looking at all. So I only changed into a pair of black, baggy cargo pants and a simple black t-shirt and left the apartment.

It was calming to walk through the village at night and eventually I ended up at the Hokage tower. I could see that the lights were on in the Hokage´s office so I walked up the stairs and knocked on his door.

"Come in." I heard from inside the room and I timidly opened the door, I didn´t really know what I was doing here, it was if I was driven by something I didn´t understand.

"Michi-san what are you doing here?" The Hokage sounded honestly surprised to see me and I immediately felt tears gather in my eyes. I was so confused…

"I´m… I´m not really sure… I´m sorry I shouldn´t have bothered you Hokage-sama." I said and turned around to leave again when he stopped me by saying.

"You´re not bothering me, if you came here and sought me out there is clearly something on your mind child, tell me." I turned back around so that I was facing him, hesitating a little before telling him.

"It´s just that… I don´t feel that I fit in here… Maybe my life in Kiri has damaged me too much…" I felt like crying but stubbornly forced the tears back.

"I don´t believe that and you don´t either, not really. You know what, you have just convinced me that you don´t need to be watched over either. Tomorrow you will get your own apartment and fully become a true member of this village, no different than Kakashi or Genma."

"Thank you very much Hokage-sama, but what did I do to earn this? I have only bothered you and kept you from doing your work as Hokage, in Kiri I would have been arrested and sentenced to death."

"Once again you are not bothering me, I take pride in that my ninja can come to me with their problems and you are no different. And the fact that you turned to me for help with an emotional issue is what made me remove the watching." I thought about it for a while and realized that he was right, I had unknowingly showed a great amount of loyalty and trust when I came here with my issues. And even more when showing vulnerability in the Hokage´s presence.

"As for your feeling of not fitting in… It will pass. The feeling will fade the longer you are here and the more you interact with the others. Because of your childhood in Kiri you are the one you are today, a great kunoichi. But you are used to life being hard on you and that is the reason you´re feeling confused now. It will all sort itself out in time, don´t worry child. Instead you should take comfort in that if life ever gets rough again, you already know that you can handle it." And with those words, the Hokage gently shooed me out and as I left the Hokage tower, I felt a little lighter.

* * *

Even after the talk with the Hokage I didn´t feel like going back to Kakashi's apartment though. I was still weary of facing the others… so once again I found myself wandering around the quiet village. Eventually I found myself on top of the Hokage Mountain where I settled down on the hard ground to watch over the sleeping village below. I felt the need to talk to someone who knew me better than anyone else so I put my hands through the summoning seals before slamming them on the ground and whispering.

_"Summoning style: Ghosts of the pasts."_

A small poof and a cloud of black smoke appeared in front of me. The smoke soon disappeared, leaving a dark, transparent figure in its place. The figure was a little taller than me and dressed in simple black pants and a black shirt. He wore no shoes or other accessories. What should have been a solid body was dark grey and wispy, like really thick mist, and more or less transparent.

He had long black hair that was kept back in a low ponytail; the only spot of color on his being was his glowing blue eyes, the rest of him being dark grey or black. His name was Asa and he was one of my five summons, he was a ghost as well as a healer and protector. He quickly looked around and when he saw no enemies he turned to me and asked.

"Why did you summon me Michi, here are no enemies that you need protecting from, and you doesn´t seem hurt."

"I am sorry if I disturbed you Asa… But I feel the need to talk to someone that understands me fully. I still feel so… misplaced here, despite the talk I just had with the Hokage…"

"If you need me I´ll listen, you always have us Michi." Asa reassured me and sat down next to me and listened as I talked about all of my worries and bad memories. And after what felt like only minutes, the sun peeked up over the horizon and announced the new day.

* * *

I was on my way back to Kakashi's apartment when Genma found me, he looked like he had been up all night and I was overrun with feelings of guilt and regret.

"Michi! Thank kami that you´re okay, we´ve been worried sick about you… why did you leave last night?" I refused to meet his gaze and despite hating it, I felt tears gather at the corners of my eyes once again.

"I… I… Sorry…" I told him and started walking again to hide the silent shaking of my shoulders. But I didn´t get very far before Genma´s warm, comforting hand landed on my shoulder, halting my movements.

"If you´re headed for Kakashi's apartment it´s no use, he was called out on a mission a few hours ago and won´t be back for a few days. All of your stuff has been moved to my place for the time being."

"The Hokage said that you didn´t have to watch me anymore, I talked to him last night." I said as emotionlessly as I could but I think that Genma could see though the façade I was showing since his hand tightened around my shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Really? That´s great! But you don´t have an apartment yet and you can´t very well move while half asleep. Stay with me until tomorrow and then I´ll help you settle in your new apartment. Deal?" He sounded truly happy for me so I only hesitated a little before agreeing.

"Deal."

Genma's place was only a five minute walk away and had the same floor plan as Kakashi's apartment. Since both of us had been up the entire night we were dead on our feet so we only shared a light meal of cereal and milk before going to bed to catch up on some well needed sleep.

* * *

**_Dream Sequence_**

_I was on my way back from a mission with my jounin team, Hideo and Junichi, the mission had gone well and the boys were unusually happy and carefree. We reached the village gates in no time and despite the boys relief of being home again, I didn´t share the feeling with them. _

_I knew that the village was a mess covered up behind the violent façade and the nickname 'bloody mist'. Yes we produced extremely talented shinobi and kunoichi but what good were they when we killed everyone but one from every academy graduation class? _

_I was fourteen and the youngest in my jounin team, Hideo was sixteen and Junichi was twenty-one. The entire village teams were split into varying age range and since you had to be in a team of three to enter the chuunin exams, all who managed to make genin had to wait between one and four years for the chance to take the exams. _

_It was crazy. _

_And I knew that the village would collapse if the fourth Mizukage Yagura was allowed to keep running the village. But there was nothing I could do about it… The person that used to give me hope for the future even in this fucked up village was gone. There was no point in hoping for something that would never come true… _

_The team and I reached the Mizukage´s office and knocked, waiting for his permission to enter. We were granted permission and swiftly reported our mission success before waiting for the dismissal. Hideo and Junichi were dismissed and they left the room without a second glance at me, they knew I could only be held back because of two reasons. _

_One. The Mizukage was displeased with me for some reason and if that was the case, I wouldn´t leave this office alive. _

_Or two. The Mizukage had another mission that was for my eyes and ears only. This time it was the second reason. _

_"Michi-san I have a mission for you." _

_"Yes my lord." _

_"You will do it alone and it will happen tonight." _

_"Yes my lord." _

_"You will kill all the children of the Soga-clan, the Minamoto-clan and the Fujiwara-clan, no exceptions." _

_"Y…Yes my lord." _

_"I want the report at six am tomorrow at the latest. Dismissed." _

_"Yes my lord. Thank you my lord." _

_As soon as was out of his office I felt red hot anger boil in my veins instead of blood. He wanted me to kill all of the children in those three clans just because they bore the gene of their clan's kekke genkai, the children haven´t even developed the kekke genkai! _

_I knew what I had to do. I wouldn´t be able to live with myself if I killed those children, that I was sure of. So my only other option was to run away, to leave the village and become a missing-nin. The only person that would have been able to keep me in the village was already gone so there was no one stopping me. But I had to leave right now, to get as much of a head start as possible. _

_I could already feel them chasing me._

* * *

I woke with a gasp and a choked back scream and almost panicked before remembering that I was in Genma´s apartment and that I was safe. Apparently I had made enough sound to alert Genma because it took only a few seconds for him to appear in my bedroom in full bodyguard mode. He quickly scanned the room for any enemies or dangers and when he found none he turned his gaze on me.

"Michi? Is everything alright?" He inquired.

"Yeah… Only a bad dream…"

"What was the dream about?" He asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed. I tried to stare him down but he didn´t budge so I gave in and told him.

"Me leaving Kiri…" I trailed off and thankfully Genma left it at that as well. Both he and I knew that if given the chance, Kiri would come after me, they wanted me dead. After making sure that I would be alright, he left me to my own devices and ventured into the kitchen to make us some breakfast that was more like dinner if going by the time of the day.

I took a shower and borrowing Genma´s shampoo, conditioner and body wash since I was too lazy to unpack my own. I then dressed in a pair of black ninja sandals, a pair of dark green cargo pants and a black mesh t-shirt with a wide black strip across my breasts and a narrower strip across one shoulder. Since I hated to wear the standard ninja pants that most people preferred, I had to special order my cargo pants. The material was much thicker and sturdier than in regular pants and the deep pockets served as my weapons pouches. But it was worth it as long as I didn´t have to wear standard ninja pants…

I finished up in the bathroom by putting my hair up in my usual ponytail and then exited and slowly made my way over to the kitchen. To my surprise, Genma had managed to make us some sushi in the short time it took for me to get ready. He had also been in the Hokage tower and had a small chat with the Hokage. I was starting to wonder if I had been in the bathroom for three hours instead of my usual thirty minutes.

We ate while discussing what I would need for my apartment which wasn´t much since the apartment thankfully came fully furnished. I also noticed that even when eating, he didn´t pull the senbon from his mouth. I was starting to wonder if he slept with it in his mouth as well.

But then my thoughts traveled to what I would do now that I was a jounin of Konoha, I needed to train, that much was clear to me. I needed to improve my Taijutsu and Genjutsu, and I still needed to master the senbon needles. I needed to keep up with my Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu and summoning skills as well.

"Hey Genma?"

"Mm?" He looked up and met my thoughtful gaze. "What is it?"

"Do you think you can help me with my senbons? I want to master them and I´m having some trouble…"

"Of course!" He said happily. "Not many wishes to master the art of senbons nowadays, I´ll be happy to help you. Are there more areas that you need help with?"

"Taijutsu and Genjutsu."

"Then you should as Gai and Kurenai for help as well…" Genma disappeared in thought for a while before he seemed to remember something.

"Hey Michi, didn´t you have summons as well?" "Yes I do, do you want to meet one?" "If you don´t mind…" He trailed off and I let my hands fall into the routine of the hand signs for the summoning jutsu. I pressed my hands against his kitchen floor and said.

_"Summoning style: Ghosts of the pasts." _

And from the poof of smoke came Asa´s familiar voice.

"Again Michi? Wasn´t tonight enough…" He trailed off as he noticed that we wasn´t alone and I took the opening and introduced them.

"Hello again Asa, I want you to meet one of my friends. Asa this is Genma, Genma this is Asa." The two of them was staring at each other, Genma in surprise and Asa in curiosity. I then explained to Genma that my summons basically were ghosts, that fact making him pale at an alarming rate, but after a little while he seemed more comfortable in the company of Asa.

What was left of the night passed quickly and when I dismissed Asa and went to bed it was already early morning.

* * *

About three weeks passed before Kakashi returned to the village, and during those weeks a lot of things had happened. I had moved to my own apartment, one that looked like Kakashi's and Genma´s and was located in the same neighborhood as theirs. I had found out that the reason Kakashi was hiding his left eye was because it was the sharingan from one of his deceased teammates. I never told him that I knew but I did and I understood.

I had also started training taijutsu with Gai, Genjutsu with Kurenai and I was working with my senbons with Genma. Right now Iruka and I were on our way over to Kakashi's apartment, apparently Kakashi was getting a genin team and needed some convincing to actually accept it. So Iruka had asked me to go with him, he and I had become rather close as well and he had talked a lot of a boy named Naruto that he was sort of taking care of.

Naruto was shunned by the villagers and most of the ninja because he carried the nine tailed kyubi within him. I understood how it felt being alone in a village full of people so when Iruka offered to let us meet I immediately accepted. We were going to take him for ramen at Ichiraku´s after talking to Kakashi.

At Kakashi's apartment Iruka knocked on the door and when Kakashi opened to see both Iruka and I he looked surprised, but stepped to the side so that we could enter.

"Iruka, Michi, what brings you here?" He asked before offering us some tea which I declined but Iruka accepted.

"You´re getting a genin team!" I told him excitedly and almost bounced in my place on the couch. Kakashi looked at me with his lonely black eye and said.

"No."

My happiness sank a little, why was he so against a genin team? As Iruka tried to convince him to accept the team I tried to figure out why he was so against it in the first place. And then I realized why, it wasn´t because he didn´t want to teach the children. It was because he was afraid that they would die too.

"Iruka why don´t you go and get Naruto and take him to Ichiraku´s? I´ll meet you there later." I told him and both he and Kakashi looked at me in surprise. Despite Iruka clearly wondering what I was doing, he obeyed and after begging Kakashi one last time, he left Kakashi and me alone. Kakashi looked at me with weary eyes; he knew it wasn´t like me to give up but he didn´t know what I was planning.

"Why don´t you accept the genin teams?" I asked him when we were alone.

"I don´t like children." He answered calmly but I could see in his eye that he started to suspect that I had figured something out.

"Bullshit. That´s not true and you know it. The real reason you keep failing the genin teams are because you have this twisted idea that you´re going to get them killed." I told him and by the look in his visible eye, I had been dead on. He didn´t say anything so I continued talking.

"It wasn´t your fault that your father committed suicide, it was his choice and his alone. It wasn´t your fault that Obito died, you would have done exactly the same in his situation. It wasn´t your fault that Rin had to die, you would have wanted her to do the same had the roles been reversed. And it absolutely wasn´t your fault that Minato died, you would also had sacrificed your life if it meant that the village and your child/children could live on."

During my speech he had taken a seat in the couch and by the time I finished he was hanging his head and I could see tears fall into his lap. Konoha was a great village to live in, but there wasn´t many in it that could understand the true darkness that resided in this world. Kakashi was one of them, and I was another. I also believed that the young Jinchuriki and the surviving Uchiha would understand among other people like Anko and Genma.

Kakashi's biggest problem was that he wasn´t allowing people to help him; he said nothing so I had to figure it all out by myself. But I did and I wasn´t going to let him suffer alone anymore. I inched closer to his slightly shaking form and when he didn´t pull back from me, I sat in his lap with my knees on either side of his hips and pulled him against me in a tight hug, refusing to let go even as he tried to pull away.

When I didn´t let go, he stopped fighting against me and instead wrapped his strong arms around my small waist, holding me closer, and allowed his head to fall onto my shoulder, his tears soaking my shirt. I never said a word as he cried; I only held him close and stroked his back and hair with gentle, comforting strokes. After a little while he calmed down and turned his head so that it was still resting on my shoulder but turned towards me so that he could talk.

"Thank you…" He whispered, keeping his eye closed. "You´re right, I am extremely hard on the genin teams so that they will get send back to the academy because I am afraid that they´ll die if they are put on a team with me as their leader." He admitted and I smiled a little, he admitting his fears was a huge improvement.

"If it would make you feel better I could ask the Hokage if I would be allowed on the team with you for missions outside the village, that way you doesn´t have to have complete responsibility for the kids but will still have most of it." He raised his head from my shoulder and asked me seriously.

"You would do that for me?" I nodded.

"Of course I would, you´re one of my best friends Kakashi…" I pressed a light kiss to his forehead. "There´s nothing wrong with being afraid, but it´s bad if you let it control you." I explained and he sighed before relaxing against me once more.

"How can you be so wise while still so young? You seem to understand me better than anyone in this village… why?"

"I´ve had my own demons to battle…" Was my only answer and thankfully he left it at that.

* * *

When I left his apartment a little while later he had promised to take the genin team seriously as long as I promised to talk to the Hokage about coming with them on missions outside the village. So I was now on my way to the Hokage tower. I knocked on the door and was allowed entrance by the Hokage´s kind voice.

"Ah, Michi-san. What brings you here this time?" The Hokage asked me and I gave a little bow before explaining the situation with Kakashi and the genin teams. The Hokage seemed genuinely surprised that I had managed to figure Kakashi out but he didn´t say much about it. He allowed me to give Kakashi all the help he needed with the genin team, he even seemed a little guilty that he hadn´t thought of the problems Kakashi could have because of what happened to his own team. I left the Hokage tower in a good mood; hopefully Kakashi would win over his demons with my help and I still had the meeting with Naruto to look forward to.

Today seemed to be a good day.


	3. Chapter 3 - Enter: Team 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only Michi.**

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 3 – Enter: Team 7_

* * *

When I finally reached Ichiraku´s I was half-afraid that Iruka and Naruto would have left in the belief that I wasn´t going to show, thankfully I could hear a loud voice even from one block away ask.

"Iruka-sensei, didn´t you say that we were meeting one of your friends tonight? Where is he?" I waited outside to hear what Iruka would respond with before making my presence known.

"It´s a she not a he. And I did, she said she would meet us and I´m sure she will. She´s probably just running a little late..."

I decided that now was a good time to show so I pulled the curtain aside and made a show of looking for someone. When my eyes traveled to Iruka he looked up and waved me over, introducing me to Naruto.

"And here she is… Naruto this is Michi, Michi this is Naruto." I gave the young Jinchuriki a quick once over before taking the empty seat on his other side, sandwiching him in between Iruka and I .

He had bright, sun-yellow blonde hair and sky blue eyes with more depths than a twelve year old should have. His face was accented by whisker-like marks on his cheeks, a sign that the nine tailed kyubi resided in him.

His eyes were glued to me as well and I could feel his eyes on me as I placed my order. I heard him stage-whisper to Iruka.

"Nee Iruka-sensei, how did you become friends with such a hottie?"

I heard Iruka sputter and if I had looked to my left I would have seen his face colored a bright red on the other side of Naruto. I slowly turned me head in Naruto's direction and allowed a sly grin onto my face.

"You think I`m hot?" I asked him innocently and had to hide a smile as he became red and started sputtering something that might have been apologies.

"It´s okay Naruto, I´m not offended. It´s rather flattering that you think I´m hot but not all women will be as laid back as I am. You should remember that." I told him and patted his hand.

He nodded, as eager to please as a puppy just because I showed him some kindness… It made my heart ache for him. Naruto and Iruka were now discussing the academy graduation test that would be held the next day. Iruka was reminding Naruto that he would have to be able to perform a clone jutsu to be able to pass and become a genin.

Naruto assured him that he had it covered but I heard the insecurity in his voice along with something that could only have been raw determination and it put me on edge.

In that moment I decided that I would watch over Naruto tonight, something felt off and it made my sixth sense tingle in warning. If he was about to do something stupid I hoped that I would be able to stop him.

Iruka left after paying for Naruto's meal, saying that he had some paperwork that needed to be finished before the exams tomorrow. Naruto surprised me by waiting politely for me to finish my meal though and after I had paid the owner, Teuchi, a sad look took over his eyes and I realized that he didn´t want to be left alone.

"Hey Naruto, want to come over to my place for a cup of tea?" I asked him and felt my heart lighten as the sad look in his eyes gave away for a happier one.

"I´d like that… Most people shun me and won´t go near me, I don´t think I`ve ever been invited to someone else´s home except for Iruka´s before…" I couldn´t take it anymore and wrapped him in a tight hug, ignoring the shocked stares from the passerby´s.

I think Naruto was shocked as well, he was standing ram rod straight and his muscles were tense. When I let him go I took his hand and continued to drag him in the direction of my apartment.

My apartment was my pride and I put some energy each week into keeping it neat and clean. The floors of the living room and kitchen were a light wood, the walls a creamy white and the appliances in the kitchen stainless steel. The kitchen furniture was made of dark wood and the counters were a light grey. The accents were mostly a bright and happy yellow mixed with some gold and brass.

The living room furniture was dark grey and the accents were dark red and copper. The bathroom held the same layout as Kakashi's and was white and red tiles with the same light grey color on the marble counter as in the kitchen. The guest room and my bedroom both had tan carpet but the guest room had white walls with forest green accents while my bedroom had three white walls and one navy blue wall and accents in different shades of blue and some silver.

I gave Naruto a quick tour of the apartment before entering the kitchen to make the tea. Naruto followed me and took a seat at the kitchen table without taking his eyes off me once. I could sense that he had questions and told him.

"Just ask me Naruto." He looked at me a little suspiciously before asking the question that had bothered him since the hug I gave him.

"Why are you so nice to me? Don´t you know what I am?"

"I am nice to you because, One, You haven´t done anything to deserve otherwise. Two, I´d like to be your friend, just like Iruka and third, why shouldn´t I be? Yes I know what you are; you are a twelve year old boy, an academy student, and the carrier of the nine tailed kyubi."

He looked at me for a long time with unreadable eyes before saying.

"It´s usually enough that I exist… I´d like to have you as my friend but…"

"But what?"

"Doesn´t it bother you that I´m a Jinchuriki?" He sounded almost broken asking me that and I wanted nothing more than to take away some of his troubles. I walked over to him and let my hand stroke back his hair before I answered him.

"No it doesn´t bother me… Does it bother you that I´m from Kirigakure? Many people judge me just because I come from 'the bloody mist village' you know."

"No it doesn´t bother me because your village don´t necessarily reflect what kind of person you are." Naruto told me and I nodded.

"Exactly, it´s the same with you and the nine tails." I left Naruto to ponder that while I poured tea in two cups and set out milk, cream and sugar on the table.

"You´re really smart Michi-chan…" Naruto complimented and gave me a dazzling smile while accepting his teacup. "I think we´re going to be great friends!"

"I think so too Naruto, I think so too…"

* * *

When Naruto left about an hour later I quickly did the dishes before following him, but to my surprise I couldn´t feel his chakra anywhere in the village.

Who would´ve known that Naruto was so good at suppressing chakra.

After a little while I picked up his signal again, but it was from outside the village walls. And he wasn´t alone, Iruka and another chakra signal that I didn´t recognize were there with him.

Somehow that only made me worry more.

I increased my speed with chakra and reached the clearing in which they were in, in seconds only. I took in what was happening and reacted in less than the blink of an eye.

Naruto was on the ground with Iruka standing over him protectively as a fuuma shuriken flew through the air. The fuuma shuriken was going to hit Iruka straight in the back unless I did something. I didn´t bother to look at who had thrown the shuriken but in a burst of speed I threw myself at the wildly spinning shuriken, knocking it away from Iruka and Naruto.

The sharp edges bit into my soft skin and tore open my left side just below the bra when I made contact with the weapon. But I didn´t scream or yelp or even gasp because of the pain, instead I only gritted my teeth and focused on remaining upright.

I could hear Naruto and Iruka yell at the other one and then a fight broke out behind me and clones of Naruto flooded the small clearing. My hands were pressed against the jagged wound in my side, trying to slow the bleeding but were having little success.

Suddenly Iruka appeared at my side and Naruto appeared in front of me, both of them paling when they caught sight of all the blood that was pouring from my side. I was starting to feel a little light headed and when I tried to take a step forward I stumbled and almost fell but Naruto stepped closer and held me up.

In that moment a jounin team on their way back from a mission stumbled on our location and I could hear their leader exchange a few words with Iruka before another one stepped closer and picked me up before running at full speed towards the hospital while carrying me bridal style.

I looked up and tried to focus my gaze enough to see who was carrying me, the glint of a senbon showed and I realized that it was Genma who was once again trying to save me.

"Gen…ma…" His name escaped from my lips along with a small amount of blood and he looked down for a second before looking back up.

"Shh, don´t talk Michi. You´ll be okay, I promise." He sounded so sure of it that he almost convinced me, but I knew that I was badly hurt and strangely enough, that didn´t bother me. I wasn´t afraid of death because I didn´t have anything to live for.

Genma sensed the change in me and shot me another worried glance before increasing his speed yet another notch. I felt my eyes start to droop and despite Genma´s increasingly frantic voice telling me to stay awake, I let unconsciousness overtake me.

* * *

I woke up to pain in my side, an annoying beeping and multiple voices talking in hushed tones. I opened my eyes a sliver and let them get used to the light before opening them all the way, I wanted to know who were here and whether I had to be on my guard or not.

My eyes fell on the familiar figures and I immediately relaxed again. Crowding my hospital room was Kakashi, Genma, Anko, Iruka and Naruto. I suddenly remembered that the academy graduation was today so what were Iruka and Naruto doing here?

"Hey guys, don´t you have a graduation to attend to?" I asked them and drew all of their attention on me.

"The exams are already over Michi, it´s early afternoon." Kakashi explained to me.

"Oh…" I turned towards Naruto and asked him. "Well, how did it go?" His whole face lit up in a smile as he told me.

"I passed, believe it!" I smiled as well but my smile faded when I remembered what had happened last night.

"What did really happen last night?" I asked and the other people in the room shared a look before Iruka and Naruto quickly said goodbye and left with the excuse that Iruka was treating Naruto to ramen to congratulate him. As soon as they were gone Anko gave me a light and surprisingly gentle hug before leaving us as well, saying that she had to report to the Hokage that I was awake.

That left me alone in the room with Kakashi and Genma and I eyed them suspiciously before asking them.

"Are you two also going to leave me too or are you actually going to tell me what happened?" Kakashi sat down in the chair next to my bed while Genma took a seat at the bottom of the bed.

"We´ll tell you." Kakashi said with a sigh. "Yesterday one of the academy teachers cornered Naruto and convinced him that he would never be able to become a genin on his own. His name was Mizuki and he convinced Naruto that if he stole a forbidden scroll from the Hokage´s office and gave it to him, he would be able to pass him." Kakashi took a break here and Genma continued the story.

"Naruto did steal the scroll, but what Mizuki hadn´t counted on was that he actually managed to learn one of the jutsu´s inside it, the shadow clone jutsu. Then Naruto went outside to meet with Mizuki and hand over the scroll but he quickly realized that he had been tricked and that he had made a mistake. He tried to fight off Mizuki but was losing until he got help from Iruka who had somehow found out about his former friends plan and went to stop him as well. They fought and when it looked like they were going to lose you showed up and saved the day, allowing them to team up and defeat Mizuki."

One of my hands unconsciously came to rest above the thick bandages over my wound and Kakashi's eyes followed the movement of my hand before he said.

"The only thing we can´t seem to figure out is how you showed up at the right place in the right moment since Naruto swears that he didn´t tell you or Iruka anything about his plans."

"He didn´t." I answered. " I could feel that something was off about him but I didn´t know what so I decided to follow him in the hopes of avoiding a bad situation. I met him and Iruka at Ichiraku´s and invited him over to my place for tea afterwards since it seemed as if he didn´t wanted to be left alone, we talked for a while and then he left. I quickly followed but couldn´t feel his chakra anywhere, then it reappeared outside of the village and I quickly made my way over there."

They listened attentively to my side of the story and when I finished they were thankful that I gave them the missing piece of information. I then asked them when I would be released from the hospital, to which they only smiled nervously before disappearing in dual poof´s of smoke.

Sometimes I couldn´t understand what made me consider those two my best friends…

Despite the boy´s cowardly behavior, I didn´t have to stay in the hospital for long. The next morning I was released and thanks to the many and intense healing sessions the day before, the wound was sore as hell and bright pink, but it was mostly healed.

I had been home and changed my clothes; I was now wearing another pair of black cargo pants and a long-sleeved mesh shirt underneath a black tank top. And now I was on my way to the academy to meet the students that were placed in Kakashi's team.

Thanks to my newfound friendship with Naruto I kind of hoped that he would be on Kakashi's team even though I knew the odds were against me. Unless the Hokage listened to my advice that Naruto and the Uchiha survivor might connect to Kakashi because of the darkness they shared and put them on the same team because of that. In that case I was really curious about whom the last member would be.

I heard Kakashi's voice from the roof above me and jumped up to find him sitting in front of three kids, introducing himself. I quickly hid my chakra and took a seat on a beam in a wooden construction behind the children but in Kakashi's line of sight. His visible eye widened slightly when he caught sight of me but I only winked at him, I said I would help him with his team and I meant it.

As he made the children introduce themselves as well, I made my own opinions about them. Naruto was here, as was the Uchiha survivor and a pink haired girl and since Naruto started with the introducing thing, I started with him as well.

Naruto was… special. In every meaning of the word. He had some problems yes, but who wouldn´t with his childhood. Despite the darkness in him he was surprisingly easy going and happy and that was a unique combination.

He understood darkness but didn´t let it rule over him, he saw good in everyone and was able to change people for the better almost without even trying.

As for his skills as a ninja… there was room for improvement. He had a massive amount of chakra but had trouble controlling it. He didn´t know that many jutsu´s and his skills with weapons and taijutsu were average. He was even worse than I in Genjutsu.

I moved my gaze to the Uchiha survivor, Sasuke. I didn´t know very much about him but I could sense that the darkness in him was overwhelming and was going to consume him if nothing was done soon.

I had learned that it was his older brother Itachi that had annihilated the rest of the clan but something about that mess didn´t seem right to me and I made a mental note to myself to investigate it a little closer.

As for his ninja skills, I knew that he was an excellent fire user and that his weapon skills were above average. He carried the sharingan so Genjutsu was also a strong point. I didn´t know about his taijutsu or chakra control though…

As for the last member of the team, the pink haired girl whose name I learned was Haruno Sakura. I knew nothing about her but her fan girl tendencies had to stop, immediately.

I decided to give her two weeks before telling her that it needed to stop to see if she would figure it out on her own.

Everybody had introduced themselves and Kakashi had given them the information they needed. He was now looking up at me, asking me with his eye if I was going to make an appearance. I nodded and unmasked my chakra signal, expecting the children to notice me.

Only Sasuke did, judging by the tensing of his shoulders and Kakashi sighed in disappointment before giving them a lecture.

"One of the most important thing for ninjas to remember is to always be on their guard, so how come only Sasuke noticed when a chakra signal appeared behind you?"

Naruto and Sakura spun around with shocked expressions while Sasuke turned around calmly but still on his guard. I gave them a little wave and a smile and said.

"Hi!" I jumped down from my elevated position and was immediately engulfed in a hug from Naruto which made me wince since he was hugging me a little too tight for my still healing wound to accept it.

He heard my wince and instantly let go, apologizing and pulling my shirt up to make sure he hadn´t hurt me. Since I didn´t care if I was showing everybody my bra or not I let him check my wound so that he could calm down.

"Everybody this is Michi." He introduced before asking me. "Are you sure that you should be out of the hospital already? That was a rather nasty wound after all."

"They discharged me this morning, and look, it´s almost healed!" I answered and pulled up my shirt high enough so that Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura also could see the jagged, bright pink scar across my ribs.

"Oh my… what happened?" Sakura asked but before I had time to answer her, Naruto did.

"She saved me and Iruka-sensei from a fuuma shuriken. She changed its course with her own body." I slung my arm across Naruto's shoulders and told them all with a bright smile.

"And I would do it again if needed."

And on that happy note, we all went our own way´s. The children went off to prepare for the bell test they would go through tomorrow and Kakashi and I headed over to my apartment to enjoy dinner together.

We reached my apartment and I immediately went to start cooking the already prepared chicken. Kakashi took a seat at my kitchen table much like Naruto had only two days earlier and asked me what I thought about the team.

"I´m not sure yet, they seem to complement each other but I know absolutely nothing about the girl, Sakura."

"From what Iruka told me she should be rather intelligent, not a genius like the Nara´s but intelligent. She is rather weak physically though and has to stop the fan girl act towards Sasuke. She supposedly has perfect chakra control as well." Kakashi told me and I nodded slowly.

"Then I was right, they do complement each other. There is some work to be done but they seem like great kids. I´m sure they will turn out alright."

It was silent for a while, the only sounds coming from my cooking, but Kakashi soon broke it again.

"How come you refer to them as kids and not yourself? You are after all only four years older than them."

"It´s true that I am only four years older than them in years." I said as I put the food on the table. "But in experience I am much older."

"That´s rather sad, don´t you think so?"

"Perhaps, but it is who I am."

We sank into comfortable silence after that.

* * *

The next morning I arrived at training ground three an hour before the appointed meeting time. I knew that Kakashi was going to be at least three hours late but I wanted to watch the children, that way we could judge them both on how they did at the bell test and how they interacted as a team without supervision.

I had dressed to blend in with dark brown cargo pants and a black tank top underneath a forest green off the shoulder shirt and was at the moment high in a tree, sitting comfortably and hiding my chakra.

Fifteen minutes early did the first one show up and I was not surprised to see it was Sasuke. Ten minutes later, with five minutes to spare did Sakura show. The only one left was Naruto, who turned up twenty minutes late…

During the long hours waiting for Kakashi, they all acted differently. Naruto was pacing and yelling empty threats, he clearly had to work on his patience and his volume. Sakura was sitting on the ground, examining her nails and playing with her hair. She yelled at Naruto from time to time and sometimes even hit him in the head making me clench my fists in anger.

She had no right to hit him even if he was loud and annoying.

She also spent a ridiculous amount of time flirting with Sasuke. Sasuke on the other hand actually behaved like a shinobi and not a child. He was leaning against a tree and continuously checked his surroundings. I would not be surprised if he felt my gaze on him.

When Kakashi finally arrived and started the test, I continued to watch the kids so that I would be able to tell them what they needed to work on and what they were good at.

After a few hours they finally got the purpose of the test and were able to pass. Kakashi then revealed that I had been watching them the entire time and that I had a few things to tell them. But first…

"What proof do we have that she didn´t arrive with you?" Sasuke asked. I only gave him a look that said that I thought he was acting childishly but answered him anyway.

"You arrived fifteen minutes early and were the only one to act like a ninja while waiting for Kakashi. I do believe that you were able to feel my eyes on you, did you not?" That made him be quiet but the other two protested wildly and tried to tell me that they had acted like ninjas too.

"Really?" I asked as I leveled my gaze at them. "Because it looked like you Naruto was busy yelling and pacing, not being aware of your surroundings at all. If anything you would have drawn the enemy to you." Sakura giggled as Naruto lowered his head.

"And you." I turned towards her. "Were occupied by checking your nails and playing with your hair, when you were not all over Sasuke that is. You also seemed rather fond of yelling at Naruto and on top of that beating him." I leaned closer and her eyes widened in fear.

"If I could, I would send you back to the academy simply because of your behavior. You do not beat your teammates outside of training, you work together. How do you think he is going to trust you to watch his back if you keep beating him every time he annoys you?"

I felt my temper get away from my control and hurriedly told Kakashi the rest of my observations before taking off, trusting him to explain my background and why the things I had pointed out rather harshly were important.

I returned to my apartment and locked myself in the bathroom, the kids didn´t know how lucky they were to be born in Konoha. Had they acted like that in my old village, all of them would have been killed.

But they weren´t in my old village, and neither was I…

I started the shower but remained sitting on the floor as the bathroom slowly filled with warm, humid mist. I was sent back into my memories of my own academy graduation.

* * *

_"Well class, as you all now, today is the day when the skilled are separated from the average. In this arena you will fight until only one of you remains standing, that one is the one that make genin. Those of you that still live when that happens will be taken to the hospital and will be allowed to try again after another year in the academy. Begin."_

_With those words, the chaos started. Everyone was fighting and screams echoed between the stone walls. I was a proficient fighter but there were students here that had fought in this chaos before and therefore had the upper hand._

_It didn´t help that I was the youngest one here._

_My academy teachers had deemed me a prodigy and had moved me up class after class until I was an eight year old in a class with twelve year olds. It was a disadvantage but at the same time not, most other students dismissed me as not threatening because of my young age._

_My plan for surviving and hopefully making genin in this chaos was to lay low and let most of them take out each other, and when only a few were left standing, that´s when I will make my move._

_I was constantly moving around the edges of the arena, keeping away from the battles and avoiding unnecessary attention. When only two fighters except myself were left standing I made my move._

_"Water style: Water prison!" I yelled and combined with the proper hand seals; water spewed from my mouth and enveloped the other two in two identical spheres of water._

_I wanted to close my eyes but was afraid the teachers would disqualify me if I did. So I kept my eyes open and watched the two children in my water prisons slowly drown…_

* * *

I was thrown back to reality and discovered that tears fell from my eyes in silent apology to the two children I had to kill during my academy graduation.

Thank god I still had my brother at that time, otherwise I´m not sure I would´ve survived…

I breathed in the thick, warm air and undressed before finally stepping in the shower. The falling water hiding my tears as I cried for the sins I´ve committed in the past.

When I finally exited the bathroom, it had turned dark outside and I realized that I must´ve spent hours locked in the bathroom. I was dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt that was too big on me but really comfy.

I almost had a heart attack when I saw that there was someone sitting on the couch in my living room, but then I recognized the gravity defying silver hair and relaxed again.

"Are you here to yell at me?" I asked him in a small voice and kept my gaze on the floor.

"No I´m not going to yell at you… I explained your background to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura and they understand your reaction. I also managed to get them to understand why the things you told them were important. Sakura even apologized for hitting Naruto and harassing Sasuke."

That made me smile, if they could change this quick they had the potential to become a great couple of ninjas. But that still didn´t explain why Kakashi were here.

"Then why did you come?"

"To make sure that you were alright, I didn´t like the look in your eyes when you left." He admitted and gestured for me to come closer. I did so and when I was in his reach he pulled me down to sit next to him on the couch.

He rested one arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to his own body before leaning down and asking me in a low voice.

"What happened Michi? I´ve never seen you like that before…"

"I almost forgot where I was... I acted as if I was in Kirigakure." I explained with my head hanging low, ashamed that I had almost lost control.

"And in Kiri Naruto and the other´s would´ve been dead because of their behavior as a team?" Kakashi asked, hoping to clarify.

"Yes, but they would never have been a team from the start since they are the same age. Only one from each academy class advances to genin." Kakashi looked surprised.

"But I thought that only happened three times?" Now it was my turn to look surprised.

"Kiri told the other villages that yes but in reality they kept it up for almost fifteen years." I could see understanding dawning on Kakashi's face as he realized that I had been through that kind of exam. I saw the question in his eye and answered before he wasted his breath asking it.

"No, I will not tell you about it. At least… at least not now. Maybe I will tell you some other time…"

He accepted that and the comfortable silence we fell into afterwards was calming me down to my very soul. I fell asleep while leaning on Kakashi's strong shoulder.

* * *

Hi guys! Since no one is reviewing this story I have no idea if you guys like it or not... Please tell me!

Love C


	4. Chapter 4 - A mission to wave part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only Michi.

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 4 – A mission to Wave: part 1_

* * *

A month had passed since the night when a fell asleep against Kakashi on my couch. Team seven had done a lot of D-ranked mission and was getting antsy for something harder, apparently that was why I was called to the Hokage tower this morning. I knocked on the door and waited for permission before entering.

"You called for me Hokage-sama?"

"Yes Michi-san, as you probably know, team seven has been asking for a C-ranked mission for a while now. So tomorrow they are going to escort a bridge builder home to wave country and I want you to join them."

"Of course Hokage-sama, that was my promise to Kakashi and I´m planning on keeping it." I assured him.

"That´s good to hear Michi-san, be careful though… Apparently Zabusa Momochi has been seen around the edges of wave country. You are dismissed."

I didn´t let it show that the news about Zabusa worried me, and instead bowed to the Hokage before leaving the tower. As I wandered the streets of Konoha in the direction of Kakashi's apartment, my mind was doing a thousand miles a minute, trying to figure out what to tell Kakashi about Zabusa.

Zabusa was seven years my senior and we had met a few times in the past. He was aggressive, violent and cared for no other than himself. Typical for mist ninja. He had left the village not long after I made chuunin though, and since then I hadn´t seen him.

While my mind spun around like a twister out of control, my feet had taken me to Kakashi's apartment. But I heard multiple voices from inside and suddenly didn´t feel like meeting anyone. Instead I took a seat in a tree branch, high up from the ground and with a view of Kakashi's living room and kitchen.

The whole team was there, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. They were all seated in the living room and seemed to be going over battle strategies so that they could fight without leaving the client without protection.

I smiled at the scene in front of me and just as I was about to drop to the ground and go home to my own apartment, Kakashi looked up and locked eyes with me. I gave him a sad smile before dropping to the ground and started walking away.

"Michi! Wait!" I heard a familiar voice call from behind me and I stopped but didn´t turn around, I didn´t feel the need to.

"What Kakashi?"

"Why don´t you come on up and join us? The Hokage has talked to you about the mission right?"

"Yes I know about the mission… Did he tell you about Zabusa?"

"Yes but… Oh that´s right, he was from Kiri right? Did you know him?"

"I´ve met him." I answered shortly and started walking again. I only took two steps before Kakashi halted my movements by gripping my upper arm.

"Please join us Michi, I won´t ask about Zabusa, I promise." He almost begged me, making it impossible for me to refuse him any longer.

"Fine, you win."

Back at his apartment I took a seat on the couch and watched as they resumed their planning. At least until I felt someone´s gaze on me. I looked up and saw that it was the Uchiha, Sasuke that kept his eyes glued on me.

He tilted his head in the direction of the kitchen and I got the signal that he wanted to talk to me in private. I rose from the couch and took another seat on one of the kitchen counters as Sasuke preferred to remain standing.

"Why did you watch us through the window?" He asked and I was surprised that he had noticed me, not that I had attempted to hide but most genin´s were only on their guard outside the village.

I studied him to try and see why he had asked the question, and why he did it in private. To my surprise I realized that he most likely just tried to understand me.

"I watched through the window because you guys looked so comfortable together… like a family… And I didn´t want to ruin that."

"What makes you think that you would ruin it?" He asked and I cursed his perceptiveness.

"My parents died when I was five and my brother left me when I was ten. My family left me, so I must´ve done something wrong…" I looked away and noticed Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura standing in the doorway. I couldn´t help it but I felt betrayed, they had obviously planned this.

Since Sasuke was the closest one to me, he was the only one to see my face and the emotions that rushed over it. He looked taken aback when I finally got my control back and schooled my face in an emotionless mask.

He then seemed to realize that telling me that we would talk in private only to have the others eaves drop probably wasn´t a good idea to do to a former Kiri-nin, since Kiri was infamous for the betrayals that happened between the ninja on a daily basis.

I closed my eyes and disappeared in a poof of dark grey smoke.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again I was on top of the Hokage Mountain, it had become my spot to go to when I felt down. And I sure felt down now…

What I had involuntarily revealed wasn´t so much of a big deal really, but family was a sensitive subject to me and I really didn´t do well with anything that was remotely connected to betrayals.

I understood that they hadn´t meant anything bad by it, I wasn´t even sure that Kakashi was aware what his students had planned, but to be talking to someone in confidence only to be eaves dropped on left a bad taste in my mouth.

I disappeared in memories of all the betrayals I had lived through in Kirigakure, and when I took notice of the world again, it was getting dark. I had spent an entire day lost in thoughts on top of the Hokage Mountain…

"Are you okay?" I heard someone ask from behind me and I tilted my head back to see that Kakashi was standing right behind me.

"Define 'okay'." I answered, not being able to hide my depressed side any longer; I was a sixteen year old girl for kami´s sake! I could only deal with so much at the time…

"Will you be able to come with us on the mission?" I nodded.

"I will. I won´t break my promise to you." I said calmly. Kakashi remained standing behind me silently for a little while and I knew that he had more to say to me. So I waited patiently.

"Listen Michi, Sasuke shouldn´t have done what he did, even he realized that after you left. He admitted that he had planned to talk to you in 'private' with Naruto and Sakura listening in, but he hadn´t expected you to react so badly to it."

"I know that." I interrupted. "I´m not mad at him either, it´s just that… family is a sensitive subject for me and I´ve been through enough betrayals to last a lifetime… I´ll be fine tomorrow, I just needed some time to get my mind straight again." I explained in the same calm voice as before.

"Do you want some company or would you rather be alone?"

"I´d rather be alone but thank you… I´ll meet you guys at the gate at six o´clock tomorrow morning." I told him and he nodded before resting his hand on top of my head for a moment before taking off.

When the stars lit up the sky I went back to my apartment, packed my backpack and went to sleep. No one knew what tomorrow would bring and I needed to be ready for anything.

* * *

The next morning I was the first one there so I did a quick check of my things so that everything was in order before I touched the storage seal on the back of my neck and gripped the hilt of my beloved katana.

The hilt was black leather, smooth and with a good grip. The blade was black so that it wouldn´t glint in the sun, and slightly curved at the end, giving it an elegant look. On the blade, close to the hilt was a small engraving that said.

_Fight hard, Fight fair, Die with honor._

_I love you Mii._

I had gotten the katana when I made genin as a present from my brother, it was the last gift he had gotten me and the one I treasured the most. My heart gave a small pang of pain at the thought of my lost brother, how I missed him…

I resealed the katana just as Sasuke showed up in front of me, a hesitant expression marring his face. I could see the regret in his eyes and decided to spare him the apologizing.

"It´s okay Sasuke, I´m not angry, you don´t need to apologize. Just don´t do it again… If you want to know something that´s fine, ask me, but don´t trick me like that again." I told him and he nodded in earnest gratitude.

Then Sakura showed up and a little later Naruto. The client Tazuna appeared and the last one was as usual Kakashi. He gave a little pep talk and then we were off. At first it went fine, everyone did what they should and did it well.

Then, after about five hours on the road, we met our first obstacle. In the middle of the road was a puddle of water, their only mistake was that it hadn´t rained in several weeks.

I met Kakashi's eyes and made sure that he had noticed it to, then Sasuke caught my eyes and I smiled at him. He had noticed the puddle of water as well. But Sakura, Naruto and Tazuna were oblivious to the impending danger.

Suddenly Kakashi were sliced to pieces by the chains that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere but then he poofed into a log, he had done a substitution jutsu. Sakura immediately took a protective position in front of Tazuna along with Naruto and Sasuke while I stood in front of all four of them and scanned our surroundings for the enemies.

Suddenly two chains came from two different directions, the chains had a hook at the end and both of them were headed for me. I felt adrenaline pumping through my blood and quickly unsealed my katana, going into a spin that had an impressive amount of speed and that reflected the chains and hooks away from us.

I was just about to attack the two enemies when two kunai came flying past my head, one on each side and close enough for me to feel the draft from them. The kunai hit their targets and the two men fell to the ground, dead.

I turned around and saw Kakashi walking confidently in our directions and I couldn´t help but whine a little, the heat of battle still drawing me in.

"But Kakashi it was just about to get good!" My eyes were wide, my heartbeat heightened and a crazy smile formed by my lips. Kakashi took it all in stride and simply told me.

"You´ll get your chance Michi, I have a feeling that Tazuna here hasn´t told us everything about this mission."

When Tazuna had told us the whole story, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura decided that we would still complete it. Kakashi allowed it only because they had me as an extra jounin with them.

The following few days of traveling went by without incidents, but the closer we got to wave country, the more I felt that something was going to happen. It had been about an hour since we got off the boat that took us over to wave country when I stopped and stood tense and ramrod straight, sending out my chakra in powerful waves to search for other chakra signatures.

The others stopped as well and Kakashi clasped a hand over my shoulder, asking me.

"What are you sensing?" I pressed my chakra out even further and finally found what I was looking for, a powerful chakra signal.

"Zabusa." I whispered. "He´s about two miles north of us and he isn´t alone. He has a companion that seems to be at chuunin level. He´s coming our way now, he must´ve sensed us as well." I told him, my voice getting a little frantic. Kakashi allowed his hand to linger on my shoulder while taking control and giving out orders to the kids.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. You are to guard Tazuna, leave the fighting to me and Michi. Only fight to defend yourselves." They obeyed immediately, taking up a protective stance around Tazuna who was already covering in fear.

Kakashi and I were standing shoulder to shoulder, waiting for Zabusa and the other one to arrive. We both sensed the massive sword that came flying at us and yelled at the children to get down as we quickly followed our own advice only to feel the sword pass by right above us.

"My, my… isn´t this a nice surprise. Both Kakashi the copy-cat ninja and my little Michi at the same time. You have grown up to a fine woman Michi, your brother would be proud."

"You don´t have the right to talk about my brother!" I yelled at him and Kakashi had to hold me back to stop me from going over there and punching him.

He looked much like he had when I last saw him. He was slightly taller than Kakashi and had well developed muscles thanks to his sword, Kubikiribōchō. He had pale skin, short and spiky black hair, brown eyes and the lower part of his face covered in bandages.

"Where is your companion? We could sense two chakra signatures." Kakashi demanded to know and Zabusa let out a dark chuckle before saying.

"That´s right, little Michi-chan is a sensor type, I had almost forgotten that. My companion has been ordered to stay out of this fight, you won´t have to worry about him."

And that´s when the first attack came.

Zabusa quickly made three water clones, two that attacked Kakashi and one that attacked Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura while the original one came after me. I didn´t have the time to see how the others were doing as I engaged in a vicious kenjutsu battle with Zabusa, his Kubikiribōchō against my katana.

We moved together in a deadly dance that at any time could end either of our lives but neither of us was getting in any deadly hits. Only shallow but painful cuts were made. I had to be faster than him to be able to keep up with him, if we got locked and it came down to brute strength I would lose in an instant.

Suddenly he made a move that I had never seen before and managed to make me lose my grip on my katana. The katana flew across the clearing and lodged itself in a tree were it sank in to the hilt. I looked up at Zabusa´s covered face but refused to give in to fear despite the fact that I now only had kunai left to defend myself against him with.

I reached for my pocket but changed my mind in a millisecond and instead gripped some senbons before I had to roll out of the way to avoid being cleaved in half by Kubikiribōchō.

While still in the roll, I threw a few of the senbons and while Zabusa dodged some of them, he couldn´t avoid them all and a few lodged themselves in his legs, slowing down his movements a little. Zabusa looked down at me with a snarl on his face before it morphed into an evil grin and he stretched out one hand in my direction before yelling.

_"Water style: Water prison!"_

I had barely enough time to take a deep breath before a sphere of water appeared around my body, effectively trapping me inside. And since I had used this very same technique during my academy exams, which Zabusa had watched, he knew that I would have to fight panic while at the same time trying to get free from his technique before I drowned.

My eyes immediately focused on how the others were doing and subconsciously if they would be able to help me. Kakashi were busy battling the two clones, one was fighting him using taijutsu and the other one used ninjutsu. The kids were managing rather well against their own clone but were clearly not able to help me.

I just had to hang in there and hope that they defeated the clones before I couldn´t hold my breath any longer.

I knew that if I could find the weak point in the sphere I would be able to get free from the prison using a blast of chakra. But I didn´t know where that point was…

Time passed but I didn´t know how much but soon I started to feel the burn in my lungs that indicated that I was about to run out of air. I checked on the others once again but there hadn´t been much change, Kakashi was down to one clone though and that was at least something to hope for…

I closed my eyes as my vision started to turn darker in the edges, I didn´t want to die here kami dammit! But there was nothing I could do other than try to hold on for as long as possible.

Memories started to play in front of my eyes, most of them showing me my brother and I from when we were younger and still as close as siblings could get. But I also saw quite a few from my short time in Konoha.

The burning in my lungs was almost as much as I could take and even though I didn´t fear death, I still didn´t want to die…

But it would seem as if I didn´t have any choice in the matter…

I braced myself for the unavoidable and allowed my lungs force my body to gasp for breath, even though there was none to be found. Water flooded down into my lungs when the water sphere around me suddenly disappeared, making me fall to the ground gasping for breath at the same time I was trying to cough up the water from my lungs again.

I felt someone catch me with an arm around my waist and brace me so that I could remain standing through my fight for air, making it easier on me. I could tell that it wasn´t Kakashi that was more or less holding me up, nor could it be Sakura. It had to be either Naruto or Sasuke but I didn´t know which one.

I felt my knees go weak and I sank to the ground, slowly thanks to the one holding me. I let my gaze roam over the now seemingly empty clearing and tried to get a grip on what exactly had happened.

Tazuna was sitting on the ground and appeared to be unharmed but more than slightly shocked. My eyes then wandered over to where pink hair caught my attention and I felt my heart almost stop in my chest when I realized that she was leaning over Kakashi's (hopefully) unconscious body.

Naruto was standing close by to them with a serious look on his face which meant that the one supporting me should be Sasuke. I let my head fall back and allow me to meet the concerned gaze that belonged to Sasuke.

"Is Kakashi… alright?" I asked him, still wheezing a little from lack of oxygen.

"He´s unconscious, probably due to chakra exhaustion, but he´ll be fine with some rest. I´m more worried about you actually." Another voice answered me and I turned my head once again to be able to face it.

Sakura was standing in front of me, Naruto by her side with the unconscious Kakashi hanging limply between himself and Tazuna.

"I´ll be fine." I told Sakura and stood up with some help from Sasuke. And it was true in a way, I was exhausted from almost drowning, my chakra reserves were low and I had several cuts that were bleeding sluggishly. But I would be fine.

"I don´t have enough chakra, otherwise I would have summoned my summons to help us…" I started but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Don´t worry about it Michi-chan. Tazuna says it´s not a long way to his house and that we can stay there for the time being."

"Yeah just stay conscious please, otherwise we won´t have a jounin captain to tell us what to do and what not." Sasuke said while keeping his arm around me for support.

I knew that unconsciousness wasn´t far away for me either but I couldn´t allow it to overtake me, not when the kids trusted me to keep them safe. So I gritted my teeth and hoped that my black clothing would hide the blood stains that I was sure were growing slowly as I started to walk, slowly but surely.

Tazuna gave me directions and he, Naruto and Sakura made sure that Kakashi didn´t suddenly get worse when we traveled. I walked in front of them with Sasuke walking a little behind me to my left, clearly prepared to catch me should my knees give in again.

But my knees didn´t gave in and I did my best to act like I was fine even though I felt ready to collapse.

* * *

When we reached Tazuna´s house his daughter Tsunami came out to greet us along with her son Inari. She quickly sprang into action and took Sakura and Naruto who were now carrying Kakashi into the house to get Kakashi tucked into a bed and to make the rest of us some food.

Tazuna and Inari quickly followed after them, as did Sasuke when I told him I was only going to check the perimeter before coming in as well. I did a quick check, using most of the little chakra I had left but then my legs refused to carry me any longer and I once again sank to the ground.

I checked over my cuts and while most of them had stopped bleeding there was two slightly deeper ones that were still oozing blood. One was on my stomach and the other one on my thigh. I leaned back against the tree I had collapsed next to and closed my eyes for what I could swear was only a second.

But when I opened them again it was because someone was lightly shaking my shoulder and calling my name. I blinked in confusion a few times before remembering where I was and why. Brilliant blue eyes entered my line of sight and I focused on what Naruto was saying to me.

"You okay Michi-chan? Why did you tell Sasuke-teme that you would be right in if you´re going to rest out here?"

"Dobe she isn´t resting, I think she collapsed here. She needs food and rest, we´re lucky she didn´t fall unconscious on the way here. Or was I the only one noticing that she fought almost as much as Kakashi before being trapped in that water prison?" Sasuke told him and peeked at me over Naruto's shoulder.

"Well, what should we do then?" Naruto asked Sasuke but before Sasuke could answer him, I did.

"Help me up and inside would be a good start." I told them and they hauled me up by gripping my arms and putting an arm each around my waist. As soon as I was standing, Sasuke removed his hand from my waist and frowned as it came away stained with red.

"Michi you´re bleeding…" He said as if I didn´t already know that.

"I know, two of the cuts inflicted by Kubikiribōchō are still bleeding… They might need stitches." Sasuke put his hand back around my waist and he and Naruto got me inside even if they had to more or less carry me.

Tsunami poked her head out from the kitchen and asked the boys if they needed any help but they told her that they would be able to handle it but if she could make a tray of food for me that would be great.

She said she would do that and then they took me upstairs to where we were staying. We passed the door that led to the room where Sakura and Kakashi were staying before going to the door next to it, which was the room I would be sharing with the two younger boys.

They helped me down on the middle futon after protecting it from the blood that was spilling from my body with a towel. They propped me up with a few pillows before Sasuke sent Naruto to go and fetch some wet towels as well as the first aid kit from Sakura.

I was surprised by Sasuke´s behavior during this mission; he was alert and mature and like now, took charge when his captains were down. I was impressed. But then he had been a straight A student in the academy and apparently it wasn't for nothing.

I struggled a little but eventually got off the black t-shirt I was wearing, it was sticky with blood and with it off, a few more cuts were revealed, thankfully none of them bleeding except for the one on my stomach. Sasuke said nothing about me sitting in only my bra covering my upper body but when I started to wriggle out of my pants he asked.

"Michi what are you doing?"

"I need to get my pants off as well. I know I have a still bleeding cut on my thigh and I need them off to tend to that and to see if I have any more that needs to be looked after." I explained while successfully getting my pants off.

"And you´re not uncomfortable while being clad in only your underwear while in the presence of me and Naruto?" He asked me about the same time as Naruto reentered the room.

"No, should I be? I might only be four years older than you guy´s but I´ve been a ninja for eight years already. The necessary things are covered so I don´t see the point of being uncomfortable…" I answered while accepting one of the wet towels from Naruto and used it to wipe off all the dried and excess blood from my body.

They boys didn´t say anything more about me being lightly dressed, instead they seemed to try and imagine how it would feel to become a genin at the age of eight.

After wiping off my upper body I pressed the towel against the cut on my stomach while using another one to wipe off my legs. I didn´t find any other cuts than the ones still bleeding that would need stitches. I would need a lot of bandages though…

I decided to try and teach Naruto and Sasuke some first aid so I removed the towel from the cut on my stomach and asked them if they thought it would need stitches.

"Is now really a good time to be a teacher?" Sasuke asked while Naruto answered that he thought it would need stitches.

"Yes, there´s no better way to learn basic first aid than by doing it. You´re right Naruto this one does need stiches. I want you two to watch closely when I stitch this one together." I told them and they obediently leaned closer as I prepared the needle and thread before disinfecting the cut, holding back a hiss at the stinging.

Then I pushed the needle through the skin on one side of the wound, before going up again on the other side. Then I pulled at the needle, tightening the thread before repeating the motion until the cut was closed.

I then removed the towel from the cut on my thigh and asked the same question again.

"Does this one need stitches as well?" Both of them nodded this time and I told them.

"That´s good, this one do also need stitches but this time you are going to do it." Both of them flinched back when I told them that and Naruto said.

"I am not doing stitches. I can do the other things but I´m no good with such things… It will look horrible and I don´t want to make you look ugly Michi-chan." I now had a situation that needed to be dealt with and it wasn´t about the stitches.

"Let me ask you this then Naruto, and this goes for you as well Sasuke, will another scar really make me ugly?"

"No." They both said at the same time and I nodded, happy with their answer.

"Good, I have nothing against my scars, I´m actually rather proud over a few of them. But most kunoichi don´t think that way. Most of them really do believe they are ugly because they´ve got scars and it´s important that you, as both shinobi and men, never do anything to suggest that what they are thinking is true. It´s a fact that there are many more kunoichi´s than shinobi who commits suicide." I explained to them and I could see that they understood the importance of my words.

"But leaving that subject… I won´t force you to do the stitches Naruto but I would be really thankful if somebody else does it, I´m getting rather unsteady due to exhaustion and blood loss." I explained and showed them a hand that was shaking like a leaf.

"I´ll do the stitches then, Naruto can help bandage you up later." Sasuke said before preparing the needle and the wound just as I did before he stitched me up with small, neat stitches.

They then had to bandage almost my entire body. My entire right leg, the lower half of my left leg, my midsection and both of my arms needed bandages before I could pull on a pair of soft cotton pajama shorts and a too big t-shirt to sleep in.

They forced me to eat most of the food from the tray Tsunami had brought up before they finally allowed me to lay down and try to get some sleep.

And knowing that Tazuna was home safe, Kakashi and Sakura safe in the other room and with Naruto and Sasuke on the futons on either side of me, I fell in much needed, deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 5 - A mission to wave: part two

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 5 – A mission to Wave: part 2_

* * *

I immediately woke up when someone opened the door to the room I shared with Naruto and Sasuke the next morning. The boys were sleeping soundly and I looked at the door only to see pink hair, green eyes and the worried face of Sakura.

I put a finger to my lips, indicating for her to be quiet as I got up from the comfort and warmth in the futon and went out to the hallway to see what she wanted. Since Kakashi probably was still out, that meant that I was in charge of the kids and therefore needed to put their needs in front of my own.

I leaned against the wall and locked my eyes on Sakura, she looked nervous and I briefly wondered if there was anything wrong with Kakashi.

"I´m sorry to wake you up Michi-sensei but I think I need your help…" She said a little hesitantly and with a massive blush adorning her face. I was just about to ask what she needed help with when I caught a whiff of her scent and instantly cursed my heightened senses.

She had gotten her period, probably for the first time too. And if I let her know that I already knew because of my heightened sense of smell she would be mortally embarrassed and probably never be able to look me in the eyes again.

"What do you need help with?" I asked her and was actually a little flattered that she came to me to help her with this. I didn´t know her as well as the two boys, probably because she didn´t share the darkness that created a bond between the rest of us. I made a mental note to spend some time with her when we got back to the village to rectify that.

"I… I have gotten my… my period." She stuttered out and I gave her a kind smile to calm her nerves.

"Your first?" I asked even though I already knew the answer. All kunoichi traveled with the necessary items in case this would happen. She nodded and I quickly went back into the room and fetched a few things from my bag.

I gave her the items and told her that she could go into town with Tsunami later to pick up some more. She thanked me and disappeared down the hall and into the bathroom with the blush still painting her cheeks.

I then went downstairs and told Tsunami about Sakura´s situation, asking her to go with her into town later today. I didn´t want her to go on her own and I was in no condition to do much today. I would summon Asa later and have him heal my body up so that I was back in the game tomorrow.

Too bad he couldn´t help with chakra exhaustion…

With that thought in mind, I traveled back up the stairs to go and check on how Kakashi were doing. I opened the door to his and Sakura´s room a little and when I saw that his eyes were open, I entered.

"How are you?" I asked him as I pushed the door open and took a seat on Sakura´s futon.

"I´ve been better… But it is only chakra exhaustion; I will be back to normal in a few days. You on the other hand look even worse than I feel." He said and lifted one of his eyebrows in a silent question.

"It looks worse than it is." I assured him. "Most of the cuts under these bandages are shallow and didn´t need stitches. Only two did and I turned it into a lesson for the boys." I informed him, making his other eyebrow rise as well.

"Lesson?" I nodded.

"Yeah, in basic first aid. I stitched together one cut and allowed them to watch and then Sasuke stitched up my other one since Naruto almost panicked at the thought of doing it. He was worried that he´d give me scar so I told them about Kunoichi´s and scars as well."

"And you did all that before resting after the battle?"

I only nodded and Kakashi closed his eyes before his lips shifted into a smile underneath his mask.

"You´re one of a kind Michi, that´s for sure… Are the kids okay? Did anything else happen?"

"The kids are fine, they did well. After you fell unconscious and I was released from the water prison they made all the right choices more or less on their own. I was barely conscious for the travel back here and after my body gave in on me, Sasuke took over and made sure that everyone was taken care of. He and Naruto worked really well together last night, the two of them staying with me while Sakura stayed here with you." I reported and he nodded approvingly.

I didn´t tell him about Sakura´s situation, he would probably pick up on it on his own, since his nose was as keen as mine was thanks to his dog summons. We discussed our next step of action, which turned out to be watching over Tazuna until the bridge was finished. We also agreed to take the day off; neither of us was of any use at all until tomorrow after all.

The next day came fast and thanks to Asa´s secret visit last night, my body was healed and ready to go once again. Kakashi was also up and moving around even if he still had a little way to go before he was completely restored. We had taken the team out in the forest to teach them better chakra control by doing tree climbing exercises and water walking exercises.

Kakashi explained the basics of tree climbing to them and then had me show them by walking straight up a tree before coming to a stop on the underside of a tree branch. Then it was the teams turn to try while Kakashi went back to the house for some rest.

Sakura nailed the exercise on her first try while Naruto and Sasuke needed a few hours to complete it. I allowed them a break after that, and we used it to eat the delicious food that Tsunami had packed for us. We were sitting at the edge of a small lake, enjoying our meal when Naruto suddenly asked.

"What was your academy exam like Michi-chan? Did you do clones like we did?" His question was innocent enough, he didn´t know why Kirigakure was known as 'the bloody mist village'. But did I want to be the one to tell them? I looked at the others and they all seemed rather interested in my answer, so I guess I have to tell them…

"Are you sure that you want to know that? It´s not a very nice story…" I warned them but when they nodded anyway I sighed but told them my story.

"You know that Kirigakure is also known as 'the bloody mist village' right? The reason for that nickname is because of the academy exams. You see, only one student from each academy class get to become a genin."

"Why? What about all the others?" Sakura asked with a frown and I sighed once again before telling her.

"Because Kiri was obsessed by only allowing the best to become ninja, we didn´t make clones to become genin, we fought each other to the death." After that statement only the small sounds from the nature around us broke the otherwise heavy silence.

"That´s… That´s horrible…" Sakura whispered with horrified eyes and I smiled sadly at her.

"I told you it´s not a nice story… They stopped those kinds of exams a few years after I graduated though, so they aren´t doing it anymore."

"But wait a second, you told me that you have been a ninja for eight years. And since you´re sixteen now that would mean that you were only eight when becoming a genin." Sasuke said.

"I was." I answered simply before dropping the subject entirely and instead explaining how to properly walk on water.

* * *

A week passed and not a lot happened, the team mastered both tree climbing and water walking and Kakashi was back to full health. But something was different today, I could feel it.

Kakashi could too; I could see that in his eyes. We knew it wasn´t impossible for us to have another clash with Zabusa but we didn´t want to make the team worry so we didn´t say anything about it. But right now that seemed like a bad choice.

We were on the almost finished bridge and Zabusa and a young boy named Haku had appeared in front of us, ready for another fight. Sakura and I took up a protective stance in front of Tazuna as Kakashi engaged Zabusa in a fight while Naruto and Sasuke got to try their skills against Haku.

"Why aren´t you fighting Michi-sensei?" Sakura asked with a worried glance towards her teammates.

"Because now I can step in if any of our boys need help, Haku is only chuunin and if Naruto and Sasuke work together they should be able to take him down." I reassured her. The fights went on and I kept a close eye on both Kakashi and the two younger boys.

Everything went fine until Haku did something unexpected, he used his kekke genkai, at the same time did Zabusa enveloped the fight between him and Kakashi in a thick mist and I had a split second to make a difficult decision, to whom should I go?

In a flash I was standing in front of Naruto and Sasuke and deflected the ice attack. Haku looked annoyed at my interference but quickly raised a dome made of glass mirrors, effectively shutting us in.

I looked back over my shoulder and asked the boys if they were okay. They nodded but I could see how tired they really were. I turned my gaze forward again just in time to deflect a few senbons aimed at my throat. I could see Haku moving inside of the mirrors but he was too fast for me to be able to keep up with him.

Senbons came at us from every direction and I did my best to protect all of us but a few senbons hit our bodies. Suddenly a scream reached us from outside of the dome, Sakura´s scream. Both Sasuke and Naruto became frantic and Naruto pounded the dome with his fists in hopes of getting out.

Suddenly another wave of senbons were flying at us and this time I knew that the boys wouldn´t be able to defend themselves, they were still looking in the direction of where Sakura would be.

I forced my hands through the correct hand seals at a speed I didn´t knew I possessed before slamming them on the ground and calling out.

"Summoning style: Ghosts of the Pasts!"

In the usual poof of smoke Asa appeared and I commanded him to protect Naruto while I protected Sasuke, using my own body. The senbons buried themselves deep in my back and I held back a wince as Sasuke looked at me and then Naruto and Asa with big eyes.

When the attack was over, Asa hurried over to me and started pulling the senbons from my back before healing me. I saw Naruto and Sasuke sporting equal shocked faces and gave them a little bit of information on my summons to ground them again.

"This is Asa; he is one of my summons. I have five of them in total, all with different abilities. Asa´s are healing and protecting. My summons are… ghosts I guess and therefore I don´t need blood to summon them. Because they don´t have any blood in their bodies."

By the time I stopped talking Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be in control again and Asa was finishing up with my back. Naruto then tried to talk Haku out of doing this and while he did that I scanned the dome for a weakness that could allow us to escape. Asa then leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

"I believe that he keeps the dome up by using chakra, that´s why pounding on it like the blonde kid did won´t work. But a chakra blast would probably make it shatter." I nodded in agreement and asked him.

"Can you protect Sasuke and Naruto from my chakra?"

"Yes."

"Then do it." I commanded as I begun to gather chakra in a ball in the center of my chest. The more chakra I gathered, the more it burned since the human body wasn´t built to withstand the kind of chakra blast I was about to make. When the burn was so bad that I didn´t thought I could take another second of it, I let the chakra go and it pushed away from my body much like a shockwave from a bomb.

The blast did shatter the dome as I hoped and I immediately searched the bridge for Sakura and Tazuna. I found them where I had left them and I couldn´t see any visible injuries on either of them. I then roamed the bridge with my eyes once again, this time looking for Kakashi.

What I saw made my heart skip a few beats. Kakashi was standing, shocked, with his arm through the chest of the young boy Haku, a dying chidori covering his hand. Haku must´ve jumped in front of Zabusa, protecting him with his life the instant the dome fell.

Everything seemed frozen in place for a second, but then Kakashi pulled his arm back and the bloody and broken body of the young boy fell to the ground with a dull thud. Zabusa looked like he was going to cry before he steeled himself and fought against Kakashi with renewed strength.

I couldn´t take my eyes off Haku´s small body and then I was lost in a memory of times long forgotten…

* * *

_I was on a solo mission in grass country, my teammates, Hideo and Junichi were both in the hospital after a training session gone wrong. So I was on my own._

_I didn´t mind it though, I found it easier to complete the often horrifying missions the Mizukage sent us on if I didn´t have to pretend to not be bothered by it._

_I had to wear my emotionless mask when there were others around; you never knew who might see you after all. But when I was alone I allowed myself to drop the mask and show my true feelings._

_The feelings were mostly sadness and regret, sometimes anger._

_There was really nothing special about this mission, nothing spectacular to make it forever etched in the front of my mind. It was a simple recovery mission._

_I was to steal a scroll with forbidden jutsu´s from Suna, the scroll was a peace offering to Konoha but lord Yagura deemed the scroll to be something he wanted for Kiri, and therefore sent me out after it._

_The team carrying the scroll was a genin team and their captain, something I would be able to handle relatively easy, even on my own._

_I took down the captain first, using the element of surprise and killing him when he was off guard. Leaving only the three scared little genin left to fight me for the scroll._

_As I engaged one of them in a taijutsu battle, I watched the other two from the corner of my eye. The way the male watched the girl made me believe that he was planning something._

_I was right._

_The second I snapped the neck of the one I was fighting, the other male jumped into action. Pushing a kunai straight into his remaining teammate´s heart before setting her on fire using a jutsu I couldn´t hear._

_I stared in horror as she screamed before almost instantly stopping again and falling to the ground where she slowly was turned to ash. I was so shocked that I didn´t notice that the last one had engaged in a fight with me, I only snapped out of it when a couple of shurikens lodged themselves in my chest and stomach._

_I quickly ended him as well but I couldn´t forget the shocked look on his female teammate´s face when he pressed the kunai through her heart._

And even though she was on fire, she looked just as bloody and broken as Haku did in the present.

* * *

I shook myself from the lingering memory and quickly assessed the scene in front of me. Sasuke and Naruto had taken up protective positions on either side of Sakura and Kakashi was still fighting Zabusa. I was just about to join Kakashi in the fight when the odds changed once again.

Gato showed up.

He told of his betrayal and Zabusa, after a long look at Haku´s pale face, changed his target. Instead of fighting against Kakashi, he fought against Gato and his men.

And I found myself fighting at Zabusa´s side.

"What are you doing Michi?" He growled out but I could see that he clearly was surprised by my actions.

"Helping you fight Gato and his men, you know I dislike betrayals as much as you do if not more."

He accepted my answer for what it was and we fought side by side, shoulder to shoulder like we had done it a thousand times before. I shot a look over my shoulder to see that Kakashi had joined the rest of the team and Tazuna and was talking to them.

Probably explaining why I was fighting with Zabusa instead of against him.

"Michi look out!" I heard Zabusa yell and turned around in time to see four kunai knives flying through the air in my direction, they were going to hit me straight in the chest and there was no way I would be able to block or dodge them in time.

Right before impact, I closed my eyes and waited for a pain that never came. I opened my eyes and was shocked to see Zabusa´s massive body in front of mine, sheltering me from the kunai that were now buried deep into his back.

I looked up at his face as a small trickle of blood left the corner of his mouth. His hands grasped my shoulders and he asked me.

"Are you okay… Michi?" I could only nod but his eyes lightened and he actually looked relieved.

"That´s good… your brother would´ve never forgiven me otherwise…" He sank to his knees and pulled me with him; I grasped his forearms with my hands and leaned closer at the same time he did, so that we were sitting on the ground, forehead leaning against forehead.

"Have you seen my brother? Is he okay?" I asked with a hint of desperation in my voice. He nodded slowly, sluggishly as the blood he needed to stay alive was slowly pouring out of his body.

"Yes… he is… well…" Zabusa trailed off and I shook him to try and keep him with me for a little longer, suddenly I remembered the person he had been when I was younger and panicked, I didn´t want him to die, not like this…

But when I suggested that I could have Ava heal him he turned me down.

"No Michi… it´s my turn now…" He focused his eyes on me and told me, with honesty pouring from his entire being.

"I´m… proud over… who you have… become… Michi-chan. Take care…" And then his eyes closed and his body collapsed against mine. And all I could do was to sit on the ground with Zabusa´s now empty body and stare blankly at the space in front of me.

* * *

I don´t remember what happened to the rest of Gato´s men, how I got back to Tazuna´s house or how I got clean and into my pajamas. I didn´t notice anything that happened around me until someone wrapped a thick blanket around my shoulders.

I flinched back and made the person in front of me halt their movements. I looked up from my position on the floor and met Kakashi's worried gaze.

"I´m not going to ask how you are, because I can see that you´re not well. I´m also not going to say anything about you fighting together with him. But I´ve got to ask, what was your relationship to him? Clearly it was more than someone you had 'met'."

I blinked at him before answering him with my numb lips.

"We were friends… when I was little… He cared for me when my brother left…"

"I´m sorry Michi… I really am but you´ve got to get it together."

"I will." I promised. "I´ll be better tomorrow, I just need today…" I almost zoned out again but Kakashi shook me lightly to keep me with him.

"You need to sleep Michi, come on." He lied down next to me and pulled me down with him. I looked at him with confusion-filled eyes and he explained.

"You will stay with me instead of Sakura in case you get nightmares, the others are worried about you and apparently believe that they wouldn´t be able to handle you if you wake up in panic."

"They wouldn´t." I answered before I let the closeness to his warm body lull me to a restless sleep.

* * *

_I was back in my apartment in Kirigakure, my ten year old body a mess of tears and shaking like a leaf in a storm._

_He had left me._

_I had come home from a mission and found the apartment I shared with my brother empty and with a foreboding white envelope on the small kitchen table. I opened the envelope with shaking hands and read the short letter._

**_I´m sorry Michi_**

**_Forgive me_**

**_I love you_**

_That was all the letter said but it was more than enough for me to understand what had happened. He had left the village, and left me behind…_

_I didn´t hear the front door open but I reacted when a warm, comforting hand landed on my shaking shoulder. I flinched away and immediately went into a fighting stance in the chance that it was an enemy._

_But when my pale golden tear filled eyes met brown ones that were equally warm and worried I relaxed again. I knew that he would never hurt me. Zabusa._

_"What happened?" He asked and opened his arms for me to seek shelter in. I gratefully accepted the offered comfort and without hesitation allowed his strong, muscular arms to wrap themselves around my small, thin body._

_"He left me." I whispered but Zabusa both heard and understood. He said._

_"Don´t worry little one, you still have me…"_

Then the image of Zabusa's lifeless body was all that I could see.

* * *

I woke up screaming.

I felt Kakashi jerk awake and he immediately tried to calm me down. But I screamed and kicked and punched every time he tried to touch me. I could both hear and see him getting more and more frustrated and worried but I couldn´t do anything. It was as if I was trapped inside my own body, I could see what was going on around me but I couldn´t control my body.

Suddenly the door banged against the opposite wall and Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all appeared in the doorway, prepared for a fight. They eased up on the fighting stances when they saw that it was only me making those horrible sounds.

"What´s wrong with her?" Sakura asked and inched closer.

"I´m actually not sure… She seemed to wake up from a nightmare but I don´t think that she´s aware of what she´s doing right now… I also can´t touch her without her screaming even more."

Sasuke joined Kakashi and Sakura who were standing out of reach from my flailing limbs but Naruto was slowly inching closer, the pitiful whines I let out in between the screams making him cringe.

And while the others were busy discussing the best way to handle me, Naruto wrestled with my arms and legs and didn´t stop or give up until he was close enough to hug me.

And that´s when I stopped screaming.

The others looked at us in surprise but Naruto only hugged me against his chest and told them.

"I´ve got this, you can go back to sleep, I´ll stay here." Sakura and Sasuke accepted this with a simple nod but Kakashi was more hesitant.

"Are you sure? I can stay here if you´d like."

"I´ll be fine Kakashi-sensei, I have a lot of experience with nightmare´s myself…" Naruto said and Kakashi turned to leave the room. But before he left he turned back and said.

"Yeah I can imagine that… I do to. Come and get me if anything happens, sleep tight."

"Night sensei." Naruto answered and pulled me closer as if I was a teddy bear that gave him comfort in a dark bedroom. When the door closed and hid the room in darkness, he sighed and let one of his hands stroke my hair with a feather light touch.

"I know you can both see and hear me, don´t worry Michi-chan, it will pass." He said while looking straight into my wide-open, blank eyes, giving me an encouraging smile before pulling me even closer. So close so that my head rested against his chest, his steady heartbeat resonating in my ear.

And then I finally regained control over my body and a small, tired sob escaped from my sore throat. Naruto hugged me harder and I let my own arms wrap around his waist, returning the comforting hug we were in.

He let me cry for a while without saying a word and when my tears dried up I asked him.

"Hey Naruto?"

"Hmm? What is it Michi-chan?"

"How did you know that it would pass, I may be a complete mess mentally but that´s never happened to me before…"

"It always passes when it happens to me…" He answered in a whisper and unconsciously tightened his hold on me another notch.

"I´m sorry…" I whispered in the safety of his arms and hugged him tighter as well. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, it´s been a lot better since team seven formed. I don´t get the nightmares that often anymore, and those that trap you in your own body I haven´t had in months."

"I´m glad to hear that…" I told him. "You know that you can come to me with anything, right? That goes for Sasuke and Sakura as well."

"I know…" He sighed and I felt him tense a little. "Will you tell me about your dream?" He asked and I didn´t feel like resisting him.

"I was back in Kiri, on the night when I discovered that my brother had left the village and left me behind. Zabusa and I were rather close friends back then, despite him being seven years older than me. He was friends with my brother as well and the one to comfort me and care for me after he left. I… I guess I still considered him a friend… despite all the bad things he have done. It´s not like my record is any cleaner…" I trailed off and wondered if I had spoken too much, but Naruto didn´t indicate that he was troubled by what I had told him.

"Please don´t tell anyone that Zabusa and I used to be friends… Kakashi knows but him and you knowing are enough…" I begged him and he calmed me with a friendly kiss to the forehead and said.

"I won´t tell anyone, I promise…" We laid in silence for a little while before I chuckled at the reversed roles in the situation and Naruto asked what was so funny.

"It´s not really funny but… it´s just that I am older than you and have a higher rank, yet it is you who´s comforting and caring for me. It should be the other way." He only shrugged and said.

"We´re a team, and teammates should care for each other should they not? Age or rank doesn´t matter in situations like this." We sunk into silence once again until I broke it by saying.

"You´re right Naruto…" And then I relaxed in his warm, secure hold and let sleep overtake me once again.

* * *

The next morning was complete chaos; everybody was packing their things for the trip home and searching the house for lost or misplaced items. The shower was being used by everyone and since I volunteered to go last, everyone else was in the kitchen downstairs, eating an early lunch when it was my turn in the shower.

I had already eaten and only needed to shower and put away the last few things before I was ready to go so I didn´t hurry. I let the water warm up and fill the small bathroom with a fine mist before shedding my clothes and looking down at my thigh.

On the thigh that had not been cut by Zabusa's Kubikiribōchō I had a few scars that indicated that there had been deep wounds there at one time, they represented those who were close to me and whom I´ve lost.

Now I was adding another raised, white line… This time for Zabusa.

When I stepped under the spray of water, the new wound on my thigh stung but I relished in the pain. It made me remember that I was still alive…

My shower was soon over and done with and then there wasn´t much longer until we left and started our long trip home. We traveled at an even speed throughout the whole day and didn´t stop until darkness fell.

We quickly set up camp close to a small river and since I could feel the stickiness on my black pants, I almost immediately excused myself to go and wash the blood off at the river.

I was almost certain that Kakashi could smell the blood on me but he hadn´t said anything about it so I was hoping for the best. Down at the river I took off my pants and used a small towel to wipe the blood off before pressing it at the deep wound.

"Are you alright? I have smelled fresh blood on you for hours…" I heard Kakashi's voice from behind me and looked around so fast I thought I would snap my own neck, I hadn´t heard him coming.

"I´m fine." I answered after a second of hesitation. But Kakashi clearly didn´t believe me since he sat down next to me and pulled away the towel from the wound despite my half-hearted attempts at stopping him.

"Oh Michi what have you done…" He whispered when the deep, painful looking wound got exposed to his eyes. I tried to hide from his eyes but he gently gripped my chin and made me meet his pained gaze.

"Why?" Were all he asked and I found myself unable to not answer him.

"It´s a memorial for everyone close to me that I have lost… Most of them never got a proper burial…" I whispered and pulled away from his gentle touch.

He didn´t say anything but didn´t seem angry either. Only so very tired… He examined the wound that I had caused myself with gentle fingers and then solemnly told me that it would need stitches.

He also stitched me up and put a bandage around the injury to keep it safe for when we traveled. Then he put one of his large hands on top of my smaller one. Giving me comfort in a way I couldn´t express before going back to the others, leaving me sitting next to the gentle river.

I didn´t sleep at all that night.

* * *

When the big red gates finally came back in sight I felt the same kind of relief and happiness as when I passed through them for the very first time. I hadn´t slept at all since the night when Naruto held me and that might´ve made the relief even greater.

Kakashi made us gather and told us to go home, that he would report to the Hokage and that we would meet again tomorrow afternoon to do the written report.

The kids gave him a tired but happy smile and disappeared while I gave him a grateful one before disappearing myself, going back to my quiet apartment.

I was home again.

* * *

Hey guys!

You probably think that I´m nagging now but i really, really want some reviews!

Love C


	6. Chapter 6-Sleepover and X-ranked mission

I do not own naruto, I only own Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 6 – Meeting the girls and X-ranked missions_

* * *

The apartment was just as I had left it, only dustier. I dropped my backpack on the floor and left it there as I slowly walked through the empty rooms. When I returned to where I had started, I still felt kind of numb and empty. Not tired at all despite having been awake for four days straight. So I started to clean up the apartment…

A few hours later a knock on the door alerted me to that I had scrubbed the same spot on the floor for almost ten minutes. I got up and opened the door and saw that it was Kakashi who was standing on the other side.

"Kakashi… What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Checking on you… You haven´t slept for several days, you need to sleep Michi…" And here I thought that he hadn´t noticed…

"I can´t." I said stubbornly. I could, I was just afraid to.

"Yes you can and I´m not leaving until you do."

"Then please make yourself comfortable, after my brother left I stayed awake for two weeks straight before Zabusa forced me to sleep by drugging my food with sleeping pills."

I didn´t wait to see Kakashi's reaction, instead I turned around and returned to scrubbing the floor despite the fact that they were clean an hour ago. I heard him close the door behind him before he kneeled down to my level and halted my movements with his hands.

"You need to rest Michi… Let´s take you to bed."

"No."

"It wasn´t a suggestion." Kakashi replied seriously before he picked me up and slung me over his shoulder before carrying me towards my bedroom.

I kicked him, punched him, cursed him… I did everything I could to make him release me but when nothing worked I felt frustrated tears gather in the corners of my eyes and I desperately tried to hold them back.

He put me down on the bed and I curled up in a ball, hiding my face from his searching eye against my knees. He didn´t say anything, but when his strong arms pulled me close to his warm body I broke down and cried.

And then I slept.

* * *

It took me two weeks to go back to normal, no one knew what was wrong with me since Kakashi and Naruto had kept their promises and kept quiet about what went down during the mission. The ones who were most worried about me were Genma and Anko but after Kakashi had a talk with them they backed off.

But now everything was fine again, I slept without nightmares about what happened in wave (I still got my regular nightmares) and I was on my way to meet up with Sakura. Apparently she and this girl Ino had been in another fight and she needed someone to talk to.

I was picking her up from her parents' house and then we were going over to my place. When I reached her house she was already outside, waiting for me and I could see on her face that she was both sad and angry.

"What happened this time?" I asked as we started walking.

"She implied that I wasn´t taking my ninja career seriously, that I stayed on the team only so I could be close to Sasuke… And while that used to be true it isn´t like that anymore! I do take my career and training seriously, I want to become a medic-nin for Kami´s sake!"

I waited silently for her to continue, I had a feeling she wasn´t done yet and I was right.

"And of course my parents overheard us and demanded that I stop being a ninja and join them in the family business instead. And when I told them that I´d never give up being a ninja they threw me out."

She was crying now and I stopped and pulled her in for a hug.

"I don´t know what to do anymore! I have no place to stay and my best friend hates me…"

The shoulder of my shirt got wetter and wetter the more she bawled but I didn´t mind… Even though ninjas were supposed to show no emotions, you had to let them out from time to time or you would go insane. I still tried to comfort her to get the tears to stop though.

"Sakura calm down, you can stay in my guest room for as long as you want and need." I told her and she looked up at me with tearful eyes and a hopeful smile.

"I can?"

"Of course, you didn´t think I would let you sleep on the streets did you?" I told her and her smile widened before turning into an expression of shock as a voice we both knew well resonated from behind her back.

"Michi, Sakura what´s wrong?" Sasuke asked us with a slightly concerned voice and a tense posture.

"Sakura and Ino had a fight and then her parents threw her out because she wouldn´t give up being a ninja." I explained to him since Sakura seemed frozen in shock still.

"Why should she give up being a ninja? She´s a great kunoichi."

That made Sakura un-freeze and she spun away from me to face Sasuke who only looked at her with calm eyes.

"Do…Do you really mean that Sasuke?" She asked and he nodded.

"I wouldn´t have said it otherwise. Do you need a place to stay? There´s plenty of room at my place." He offered her and I could see her hesitate even though she´d rather stay with him than with me.

I only nodded and gave her a smile, my guest room would be available for her if she changed her mind but she would probably feel better staying with Sasuke. I knew she still liked him and she would be better off without having to deal with my nightmares.

But as the two of them disappeared in the direction of Sasuke´s home I realized I had to do something about the young Kunoichi's in the village. They should be supporting each other not fighting like this. The three twelve year old Kunoichi's from the rookie nine barely had any interaction at all with each other and the girl on Gai´s team didn´t have any other kunoichi her age as far as I knew.

I needed to create some friendship between those four.

If the girls from the Konoha 12 became friends, the others would follow and that was my goal. I went to the Hokage with my ideas and he approved with a smile and allowed me to go on with my plans. I went over to Anko´s apartment to try and get her to help me.

"So you want me to help you create comradeship between the Kunoichi's in the Konoha 12?" She asked me after I had explained my plans to her.

"Yes."

"What about the boys from Konoha 12 then?"

"I figured that if the girls became friends and started to hang out with each other and not just their teammates, the boys would follow." Anko hummed approvingly and leaned against the doorway.

"And how do you suggest that we do this? Ino and Sakura are constantly fighting, Hinata´s really shy and Tenten is a loner. Besides none of them know me and only Sakura knows you. How are we going to get them together?"

"A mandatory kunoichi lesson that we turn into a slumber party." Was my answer and I told it to her with a mischievous grin. She was speechless.

"But…But only the Hokage can announce a mandatory kunoichi lesson?"

"And that he has." I told her confidently. "I spoke to him about my ideas before coming here and he did approve of them."

"Well in that case, count me in." Anko said. "When are we doing this? And where?"

"I was thinking about two days from now? That should be enough time for us to prepare and for them to clear their schedules. I´m thinking about starting out in a classroom in the academy and moving it to my apartment later."

"Sounds good to me but what about the Hyuga? I doubt that Hinata´s father will let her stay the night at your place despite it being just us girls." Anko pointed out but that didn´t remove my smile in the slightest.

"I have a plan for that as well. Since the Hokage was kind enough to make it mandatory, she has to stay until we say that the lesson is over. That way she can stay for the whole thing but she will be allowed to go home and sleep in her own bed. I am sure that if I talk to Neji he would be able to escort her home since it will probably be late by then. He can show up sometime during the night and wait in the apartment with us if he wants, we should have covered all the sensitive subjects by then and if not… well he´s a shinobi as well." Anko actually stared at me in amazement.

"Wow Michi you really have a waterproof plan for this, it´s kind of scary how your mind works from time to time… You sure you aren´t related to the Nara?"

"Oh don´t be silly, I´m not that smart." I told her before the two of us burst out laughing.

* * *

The two days passed quickly and almost before I knew it, it was time to meet the girls in the academy classroom. Anko and I were both sitting on the sturdy desk, chatting about tonight as we waited for the girls to arrive.

The classroom door was wide open and soon a girl with brown hair in two buns on her head and brown eyes entered. Her body was extremely athletic and she had a kind of tomboyish aura surrounding her.

Not even a minute later, another girl entered the room with a light blush covering her cheeks. Her hair was short and a dark navy blue in color, I gave her a wide smile just because she had blue hair like me. Her eyes were the signature white that belonged to the Hyuga clan's kekke genkai and hers had a very faint lavender tint. Her body was already showing some curves and both Anko and I knew that in a few years those would be a cause of envy among the less voluptuous kunoichi.

During the five minutes we had to wait before Sakura and Ino showed up, we introduced ourselves and the girls introduced themselves as well and told us their names which were Tenten and Hinata.

When Ino and Sakura arrived it was clear that they had been arguing once again, they refused to even look at each other as they took their seats.

Sakura gave me a small, sad smile when she passed and I gave her an encouraging one in return. Then I turned my gaze onto Ino. She had long blond hair, bright blue eyes and a scowl that marred her otherwise rather beautiful face.

When they were all sitting down, Anko went to close and lock the door as I introduced us and told them why they were here.

"Good morning everyone, as you probably already know, my name is Michi. I work mostly with team seven but I do regular missions as well. And this is Anko, we´re going to give you all some information about X-ranked missions." I explained and Sakura immediately said.

"But I´ve never heard of X-ranked missions… Shouldn´t we be told about them in the academy like they do with D, C, B, A and S-ranked?" I shook my head no.

"No you need to have been genin for a while and done some missions outside of the village to be able to get what I´m about to tell you. X-ranked missions are not something that the civilians know about; I guess you could say that it is somewhat of a secret. X-rank means that it is a seduction mission." I let the bomb drop and waited for the questions to begin.

"Wh…What does a se…seduction mission mean?" Hinata asked shyly, her almost constant blush intensifying.

"It means that we use our body to get what we need for the mission, mostly it means that we´re giving lap dances for information or to get close enough to steal something from the person's body. But it can also mean that we have to sleep with someone." Anko answered in a low, serious voice.

"Now, there´s no need to panic over this. Konoha has a rule that says that only chuunin over the age of sixteen are allowed to be sent on these kind of missions. We are only informing you of this now so that you have time to get used to the thought of it." I assured them before drawing a deep breath before continuing.

"This might sound weird coming from me but I also recommend that you lose your virginity to someone you trust before you pass the criteria for the X-ranked missions. To go on X-ranked missions without any previous experience is not something to recommend."

I had to pause right there and after exchanging a look with Anko, she took over and explained the rest that they needed to know while I got my shit together again.

When Anko had finished the rest of the stuff we needed to over, we had only been in the classroom for an hour and I felt it was time to approach the second reason we were here.

"Now that we have the X-ranked lesson out of the way, we can move on to the real reason I wanted us all to meet like this. The four of you are fellow kunoichi, a minority among the ninja population, and you should have a bond between you that isn´t there." I explained and ignored Sakura´s suspicious glare and Ino´s annoyed look.

Thankfully Tenten and Hinata seemed to understand what I had planned and gave each other a slightly hesitant smile, but a smile non-the-less.

"You should support each other, not fight like children on the playground that don´t get along." I said with a pointed look at Ino, who actually had the decency to look away with embarrassment coloring her cheeks.

"The life of a ninja is harsh, and often much shorter than it should be. You trust your team with your life but there´s no guarantee that they will be there forever. That´s why there´s so important for you to be able to rely on the other ninja in your village. And I´m hoping that if you four start to hang out and get to know each other that the boys on your teams will follow. Do you get where I´m going with this?"

The four girls looked at each other again, thinking about what I had told them. It made Anko and I share a happy smile when Ino and Sakura talked through their problems and settled them, and that Hinata initiated some small talk with Tenten to get to know the older girl that was on her cousin's team a little better.

We allowed them to talk for a little while before Anko told them.

"Now that we have all the heavy stuff over and done with, we can move on to the fun part of this mandatory get together. Our plan is to move this to Michi´s apartment where we will continue to get to know each other during a girl's day that later will transform into a slumber party. Your families have been notified and Hinata will be escorted home by her cousin Neji when we deem this mandatory get together to be over."

The girls actually cheered and were all smiles despite the earlier discussions. I gestured for Anko to take Sakura, Ino and Hinata to my apartment and that I would join them after changing a few words with Tenten.

She nodded and they left the room while talking about what we could and should do during the rest of the day and evening. Tenten looked a little surprised when I held her back but not worried or nervous thankfully.

"I´m sorry to hold you back like this but there´s a few things I would like to talk to you about that the others don´t need to hear." I explained to her and she shrugged her shoulders and answered.

"Sure what do you want to talk about?"

"You´re fourteen right? I just wanted to warn you that since you have no family, they might try and send you on an X-ranked mission if all the other Kunoichi's are unavailable."

"But didn´t we have to be at least sixteen and chuunin for that? And how could they send me without the Hokage noticing?" She was a sharp girl, I liked her.

"We have to but I know that sometimes they have made exceptions, if both the elders and Danzo agree that the mission is more important than following the rules, they can override the Hokage´s decision and send a younger girl. It happens very rarely but since you have no family you might be sent earlier than the rules say." She looked shocked at hearing this and also a little scared, but then she gritted her teeth and told me.

"I have never wished for a family, I have that in my teammates, but this is wrong… They would really send me, despite me being too young, just because I have no family that can fight them on it. That´s not fair." I gripped her hands tightly and told her.

"Life as a ninja is rarely fair, but I promise you that I won´t let them do that to you. If they assign you to an X-ranked mission, I want you to come find me and I`ll make sure that you won´t have to do it. And if I´m not in the village I want you to tell Gai and he´ll help you instead." Her eyes searched mine with far too much perceptiveness than I´d like before she asked me.

"They have different rules for these missions in Kiri I take it?"

"Yes, in Kiri it´s enough to be chuunin, your age don´t matter. I made chuunin when I was eleven and I went on my first X-ranked mission when I was twelve." I answered quietly and Tenten gave my hands a comforting squeeze.

I met her warm, brown eyes and promised her.

"I won´t let anything like that happen here and I want you to know that you can always come to me if you need help with anything, all of you can."

There wasn´t much left to say after that so we hurried after the others back to my apartment to see what the rest of the day had to offer us.

* * *

When we were all gathered in my apartment Anko and I went to the kitchen to make us all some lunch while the younger girls talked in the living room. At first things were kind of awkward but soon it was like all of us had been friends for years.

"Um, Mi…Michi-sensei?" I turned around from my place in front of the stove and faced Hinata who had sought me out in the kitchen.

"Please Hinata call me Michi, what can I do for you?"

"I… I was just wondering wh… when Neji-nii-san is supposed to escort me back to the co…compound?" She asked me timidly and I instantly became worried.

"Do you feel uncomfortable here? Do you want to go home?" I asked her, clearly not masking my worry enough since she gave me a kind smile and assured me.

"No I like it very much here; I wished we had the idea to do this earlier. I am simply wondering because I don´t want to make father angry by coming home to late or make Neji-nii-san wait for me."

"Oh you don´t need to worry about that, that´s why I made the Hokage make this mandatory." I told her with a smile, happy that she seemed to have dropped the stuttering.

"What do you mean?" She asked with confusion written all over her face and I explained.

"Because this is mandatory you technically have to stay until Anko and I tell you that you are free to go. Therefore he can´t give you any trouble for coming home late. And I talked to Neji myself and he doesn´t mind waiting until we´re done, he will actually come here later tonight and wait with us so there´s no need for you to worry." I assured her and was shocked when she bowed to me and thanked me formally before returning to the living room.

When we had all gotten some food in our stomachs, I suggested that we give each other manicure´s which the others agreed would be fun. As it turned out, Anko had brought her nail polish collection so we had a lot of colors to choose from.

In the end Anko choose black, Ino choose purple, Sakura choose red, Tenten choose a clear polish with gold sparkles in, Hinata choose a pearl white polish and I choose a deep blue one.

After that we gathered in the kitchen to make cupcakes, the baking was interrupted by a flour fight but the finished result was one batch of chocolate cupcakes, one batch of blueberry ones and one batch of vanilla/lemon. Then we settled in my large couch with our freshly baked cupcakes and watched a movie.

The rest of the day passed by and it wasn´t long before we were eating take-out for dinner. Anko then made a revelation that I hadn´t expected.

"Alright girls how many of you have gotten drunk before, raise your hand!" She immediately raised her own hand as did I and to my surprise also Tenten.

"What? I´m a kunoichi who cares?" She said with a mischievous smile that made Anko´s grin even wider.

"I like this girl!" She exclaimed and slung one arm around Tenten´s shoulders. "And guess what! I brought both sake and beer so that those of you, who want to, can get drunk with me!" Judging by her loud voice and open behavior I would say that she had already started drinking.

"Sure, why not…" Ino said and looked over at Sakura. "Are you in forehead?" Sakura nodded her affirmative and then everybody focused their gazes on poor Hinata. She blushed as expected but surprised us all by answering.

"I might have a beer or two…"

Well smack my behind and call me silly but I´d never thought that Hinata would agree to taste alcohol just like that. But since it wasn´t only me who was stunned silent, neither had the others.

After getting over the initial shock, Anko hurriedly cleared the table and declared that we were going to play a game of truth or dare. Ino and Tenten looked excited, while Sakura and Hinata looked a little unsure. I simply accepted my destiny and took my place on the couch while Anko started the game.

"Ino, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Damn… have you gotten your first kiss yet?"

"Yes." Ino answered and blushed a bright red.

"With who?" Tenten wanted to know and Ino swallowed deeply before answering us.

"K…Kiba…" Anko, Tenten and Sakura burst out laughing while Hinata looked a little horrified that her teammate had kissed her new friend.

"Tenten truth or dare?" Ino asked after everyone had calmed down.

"Dare." Tenten said confidently and Ino smirked at her.

"I dare you to kiss the next person that enters the apartment." Tenten paled but Sakura and Hinata giggled, I only looked at them in confusion and Hinata explained to me that everybody except her cousin could see that Tenten was in love with him.

Tenten soon recovered though and asked Hinata.

"Hinata truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Is there anyone that you like-like?" She blushed beet-red and said.

"Yes."

"Who?" Sakura asked with true interest in her voice.

"Na…Naruto…"

I blocked out the others reactions and tried to imagine the loud, outgoing blonde dating this gentle, timid girl and the picture came surprisingly easy. They really would be a good match. I tuned in on the others just in time to hear Hinata ask the next person.

We played the game for a few more rounds, the amount of empty beer bottles steadily increasing and one bottle of sake was already drained. Everyone was drunk except for Hinata who was only buzzed and Anko who was hammered.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door and after one look at the time; I realized that it must be Neji showing up. Ino immediately pulled Tenten up and went to open the door before I had the chance to stop them. I could hear Ino´s happy giggle as Tenten fulfilled the dare and then they returned to their seats with a dazed looking Neji following them.

It was about to get even worse for him though.

As soon as Hinata saw her cousin, she jumped up from her seat and pushed him down on it before sitting in his lap, and repeating his name over and over again.

Hinata´s buzz had turned into drunk as well it seemed.

Neji locked his white silvery gaze on me and asked me very calmly.

"You're all drunk?" I nodded sheepishly and he sighed, preparing himself for a long night. And that´s when Ino decided to restart the game of truth or dare.

"Hey Michi, truth or dare?"

"Dare." I answered without looking at her, I was still watching Hinata cuddle with her cousin.

"I dare you to make out with Anko." Everybody stopped what they were doing to look at Ino and then at Anko and I. Anko shrugged her shoulders before raising one eyebrow at me, silently asking if I would do it.

I sighed but got up anyway and walked over to where Anko was seated. I sat down in her lap and kissed her deeply to satisfy the drunken audience.

After almost a minute I stopped and returned to my seat, focusing on Ino and asking her.

"That good enough for you?" She only nodded, shocked that I had actually done it. We played a few more rounds before deciding that we had tormented Neji enough and settled for simply talking instead.

I let my eyes roam over the room, seeing how everyone was doing. Anko was passed out in one of the couches, Sakura and Ino were sitting next to each other on the floor and talking about Sasuke in hushed tones, Tenten was talking to Neji and Hinata was still sitting in his lap, fast asleep with her head against his shoulder. Neji noticed this too and stood up while cradling Hinata´s body against him, allowing her to continue sleeping.

"I think it is time for me to return Hinata to her own bed. I had a surprisingly nice time; maybe we should get our teams together and do it again some time." He said before politely excusing himself and leaving with Hinata.

I looked over at the three younger girls and asked.

"Sakura, Ino you two can share the bed in the guest room if Tenten doesn´t mind sharing with me?"

"I don´t mind." Tenten assured me and we all started preparing ourselves for bed. I lent everyone some pajamas and after making sure that all the lights were off and the door and windows locked, we went to bed.

Tenten and I had curled up in my big bed and were enjoying the comfort of it when she asked me.

"How old are you Michi? You never told us and you sound so much older than you look."

"I´m sixteen… But sometimes I feel like I am at least twice as old… I guess that´s how it is though, when growing up in Kirigakure." I told her honestly and she gasped before saying.

"Then you´re only two years older than Neji and I… I would´ve thought you to be at least twenty."

"Surprise, surprise…" I mumbled before falling into deep sleep.

* * *

Please let me know what you think!

Love C


	7. Chapter 7 - The Chuunin exams: Part 1

I do not own Naruto, I only own Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 7 – The chuunin exams: Part one_

* * *

The morning after the girl get-together had been filled with embarrassments and hangovers but now, a few days later, everything was back to normal.

Or almost at least since Kakashi was dropping the bomb on the team that they would be allowed to enter the chuunin exams that started tomorrow, making Naruto shout in happiness, Sasuke smirk in satisfaction and Sakura to fret over the amount of studying she would have to do.

I was standing off to the side and waiting for Kakashi to be done with the team, I needed to talk to him about a mission that had been given to the two of us this morning and it was not something to talk about in the open like this.

When the stream of questions from Sakura finally reached an end and the younger children went their own ways to prepare for tomorrow Kakashi locked his lone visible eye on me and silently asked me what I wanted.

"We have a mission, we need to talk." I told him and he nodded once before disappearing in a puff of smoke with me following a second later. We reappeared in his apartment and I took a seat at his kitchen table while he made some tea before telling him about our mission.

"Lord Hokage suspects that Orochimaru will make a move during the chuunin exams, he wants us to try and find out who he is working with, and what and when he´s planning on take action. He also believes that he might already have a spy in the village."

"That´s a lot for only two people… And I have to spend a lot of that time with the team…"

"I know… And with all the teams coming in from the other villages… It will be close to impossible to find his spy among all the innocent genin. And on top of that I´ll have to be on my guard in case any team from Kiri is entering the exam, they might have been ordered to kill me on sight." I sighed and leaned back in the chair, Kami what a mess these chuunin exams was going to be…

"Kiri still wants you dead? Even if it means starting a war against Konoha?" Kakashi asked, surprised and a little worried.

"Yes, because they know that Konoha won´t start a war with them because of one person that´s not even from the village originally." I answered sadly. Kakashi looked like he was going to protest but shut up once he realized that I was right.

"You are more than welcome to stay here if you want to, just in case they still want you dead and are entering." Kakashi said instead and I shook my head with a gentle smile grazing my lips.

"Thanks Kakashi but no. I´ll take you up on it if they show up and act threatening though…" I told him and with that said I left to go back to my apartment.

I didn´t reach it though.

Instead I stumbled on a tense scene between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, a young boy named Konohamaru and a Suna genin team.

"What´s going on here?" I asked and made sure that they could hear that I wanted an answer immediately.

"Konohamaru accidently ran into the boy with black clothes and he got angry and lifted Konohamaru up by his scarf, he was choking so we had to get him free and then they tried to start a fight with us." Sasuke explained in his usual calm and collected voice.

"Thank you Sasuke, I´m sure that you all have some preparing to do so…" He got my hint and nodded his head once before leaving with the others, leaving me alone with the Suna team.

"And your names are?" I asked them, not unkindly in any way but with authority.

The boy who was dressed in black was named Kankuro. He also wore dark purple face paint and had brown hair and dark eyes. The one girl was named Temari; her hair was up in four ponytails and was a sandy blonde, her eyes a beautiful teal color. And the other boy was named Gaara, his hair a stunning blood red and hauntingly jade green eyes which was surrounded by deep black circles.

"As I am sure that all three of you know very well, I could have you banned from the chuunin exams and the village for your behavior."

I looked closely at their reactions while telling them that. The girl almost seemed afraid and I remembered that Suna too had rather high expectations on their ninja. Perhaps she was afraid of being punished?

The black clad boy who had caused all the trouble seemed honestly regretful, clearly he hadn´t really intended to hurt Konohamaru. The third boy confused me though, he didn´t react at all as far as I could see.

That unnerved me.

"But I´m not going to do that this time, but if I catch you causing trouble one more time I´m not going to be as lenient. I know how it is growing up in a tough village, so I´m going to give you guys another chance. Don´t screw it up." All of them seemed surprised by my decision, even the red headed boy showed a small amount of surprise in his eyes. The girl hesitated, but then gathered enough courage to ask me.

"What village do you come from then? If you´re not from Konoha."

"I grew up in Kirigakure, I´ve only been a kunoichi of Konoha for a few months." I answered her truthfully and watched as understanding lit up the blondes teal eyes.

They turned around to leave and I allowed them to walk away, watching their backs as they did. And after reporting the incident to the Hokage, I could finally go home and get some rest.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

The next morning my day started at four thirty when someone knocked on my door hard enough that it sounded as if they tried to knock it off its hinges.

I stumbled sleepily out of bed and opened the door, dressed in only a pair of short-shorts and a large t-shirt that hung off one of my shoulders.

On the other side of my door was Genma. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but no sound came out, instead he had his eyes shifting between my bare shoulder and the edge of my really short pajama bottoms.

"Did you want something? Or did you wake me up just to stare at my body?" I asked him irritated and tiredly. As if he sensed my rising anger he lifted his eyes to my face and explained himself.

"Kakashi talked to the Hokage, he didn´t like that you´d have to do most of the work on your own on the mission so he asked that I´d be put on the team as well. He also got me assigned as your bodyguard during the chuunin exams, in case Kiri makes a move since they have in fact a team entering the exams."

"But what about the Hokage? Aren´t you supposed to be guarding him during these kinds of events?" I asked since I couldn´t bring myself to be angry at Kakashi for wanting to help and protect me.

"It was the Hokage´s own idea to reassign me to you when he was notified that Kiri might try and assassinate you during the exams."

"Fine…" I said in a resigned tone and opened the door wider so that he could enter. It was first now I noticed that he had brought a bag with him and there was no doubt in my mind that he wasn´t going to take his body guarding duties seriously.

As he disappeared into the guest room I went to the kitchen to make some coffee before locking myself in the bathroom to take a shower in the hopes of waking up a little more.

When I exited the bathroom Genma was waiting outside with my coffee cup in hand which he gave to me before entering the bathroom I had just evacuated. I brought the coffee with me as I entered my bedroom and dressed myself in dark grey cargo pants with a lighter grey tube top that ended about 2 inches above my belly button. Over that I wore a black long-sleeved mesh shirt with my hair in my usual high ponytail.

I went to the kitchen were Genma had prepared breakfast for me before meeting him at the door and leaving my apartment for the day.

I knew that it was going to be hard to try and find the spy that Orochimaru had planted but this was ridiculous. I was looking at the books down at the gate where everybody that entered the village had to sign in. There were 427 visitors here for the chuunin exams and we would have to investigate each and every one of them. But my eyes were locked onto the name of the jounin captain that belonged to the Kiri genin team.

Yoshio…

I knew him, he had been the captain for my genin team as well but since he had been promoted to Kiri ANBU before I left the village I knew they had sent him with the genin team just to have him kill me.

I knew that Kiri would do something like this but that they sent the very man I had looked up too as a young genin to kill me still stung… And I still had to tell Genma so that he knew who to look out for…

"Genma? I have found someone you should keep an eye out for." I told him and pointed out Yoshio´s name to him.

"He will probably try to kill me."

"What does he look like? Do you know his fighting style?" Genma was clearly in body guarding mode right now so I described Yoshio´s appearance and preferred fighting style while doing my best to keep the painful feeling of betrayal from my eyes.

It was first late in the evening that I got I chance to think about what had happened during the day. After Genma and I had left the gate we had spent several hours on checking that everyone that had signed in where in fact here and the person they were supposed to be.

Then we had grabbed a quick bite to eat at Ichiraku´s before stopping by and congratulating team seven and the rest of Konoha 12 on passing the written part of the exams before we spent the rest of the day searching the forest surrounding Konoha for evidence of people preparing an invasion or similar activities.

So when we finally returned to my apartment I was tired, hungry and a little sad. It was close to eleven in the evening and I didn´t know what to do first. Shower, eat or sleep.

Lucky for me I had Genma to help me decide.

"Go take a shower, I´ll make some food and then we can both get some sleep." He told me, looking as tired as I felt.

I only nodded and mechanically went through my shower routine before coming to a stop with my towel wrapped around me and my forehead resting against the cool wood of the bathroom door, tears falling in a steady stream from my tired eyes.

Why did they have to send Yoshio?

"Michi? Is everything alright?" I heard Genma call to me from the other side of the door and I pulled myself together at the best of my capabilities in my exhausted state before opening the door and walking past him in the direction of the kitchen and the alluring smell of food.

I could hear Genma following me and got the mental picture that he was frowning at my behavior. We ate quickly and in silence but when I rose from my seat to finally be able to lie down in my comfy bed and get some very much needed sleep he stopped me by asking.

"Who was he to you? Yoshio."

"He was my genin team's jounin captain…" I answered tiredly before leaving him sitting at the table and took shelter in the familiarity of my bedroom. It had never felt better to be able to crawl under the covers of my bed in soft silk pajama pants and a silk tank top.

* * *

I awoke to the feeling that something was wrong.

I didn´t know what had woken me up but that itself was enough to put me on edge. The hinting of movement in my peripheral vision jolted me into action but before I had the chance to alert Genma or defend myself, a hand clamped down over my mouth, keeping me quiet. The other hand gripped both of my wrists tightly, restraining my movements and Yoshio´s familiar face entered my vision.

He looked older, but his hair was still a bright fire engine red and his eyes were a deep aquamarine. He was still the same yet so different... He didn´t say anything to me, he didn´t need to. I knew very well why he had come and the disappointment in his eyes told me enough.

He was disappointed in me, resented me, because I had failed to follow through with my assigned mission, making it look like he hadn´t taught me properly. My deflection had in a way pulled shame over him.

He locked my hands to the bedframe, tying them up with ninja wire so tightly that the wire was cutting into my skin, making me bleed. He kept his hand over my mouth but now he had the other hand free to use on me.

I didn´t know what he had planned for my death and as much as I hated that it had come to this, I wasn´t about to let him kill me. He was famous for being silent when making his kills, so if I couldn´t make any noise, Genma wouldn´t know what was going on until he found my body in the morning.

This meant that somehow, I had to make some noise.

The ninja wire wasn´t going to let go of my wrists without me cutting a hand off and that wasn´t optional. My legs were somewhat free but Yoshio had placed himself on top of them, straddling my thighs and making it hard for me to move them. His hand was almost glued to my mouth but I realized that my best shot was to get him to remove the hand if only for a second.

I started kicking wildly with my legs, hoping to hit the wall or kick him off me entirely. I could see him wanting to curse me to hell and back but he kept his mouth shut as to not make any noise. But then he moved his legs and forced my own to be still by locking his legs around mine.

I wanted to cry in frustration but then got another idea that might work, no matter how disgusting it was going to be. I opened my mouth as much as possible and bit him, hard.

His entire body flinched and he actually let out a low growl. But I only bit down harder and harder, knowing that my sharp teeth would help me to bite a chunk of his hand straight off. Blood rushed into my mouth, making me want to gag and throw up but I ignored the feelings and increased the pressure in my jaws.

When I bit a chunk off I was even closer to throwing up. It felt like a piece of raw, uncooked meat in my mouth and I quickly spit it out. When the piece had come off Yoshio had flinched back and automatically cradled his injured hand close to his chest before his good hand was descending over my mouth again.

But I had the opportunity I needed.

"GENM…!" I yelled but was cut off by his other hand, hoping that Genma had heard me I once again started to kick wildly with my legs, trying to keep him from gripping the hilt off his knife that I could see he was reaching for.

Suddenly my door was kicked in and Yoshio was ripped away from me, I could hear them fight but since I couldn´t get free from the bed I curled up as much as I could and tried my best not to throw up while laying on my back.

I closed my eyes and tuned them out while they fought, and then I heard a body fall to the ground. Someone of them had lost, but whom?

I was too scared to open my eyes, if Genma had lost I didn´t want to see what Yoshio would do to me. So when a hand brushed away a few strands of hair from my face, I winced and tried to curl up even further, protecting my body from harm.

"Michi open your eyes, look at me."

It was Genma´s voice, calm and soothing. My eyes immediately popped open just in time to see him scan my body for injuries. When he saw my eyes open he focused on me and asked me.

"Did he hurt you?" He was working on the wires keeping my hands tied to the bedframe as he asked that and I shook my head no, I was afraid that I would throw up if I opened my mouth right now.

Genma didn´t look convinced but concentrated on the wires for now, he knew he could ask again in a little while. As soon as I was free to move, I bolted from the room and locked myself in the bathroom where I proceeded to empty my stomach.

What came up was mixed with blood and apparently I had swallowed more off the stuff than I had first realized. I threw up until there was nothing left in my stomach and when I leaned back against the wall I heard Genma´s worried voice from the other side of the door.

"Michi is everything alright? Open the door."

It appeared as if I had made him worry about me. Well he just had to wait for a little while longer. I flushed the toilet and then reached for my toothbrush.

I brushed my teeth eight times and I still didn´t feel as if I had gotten all the blood out of my mouth. But I realized that brushing my teeth yet another time wouldn´t make a difference so I stopped and then I threw the toothbrush away.

I was just about to unlock the door when it was unlocked from the outside and Genma entered, seems he had enough of waiting for me to answer him. The first thing he did was to check me over again, searching for injuries I knew I didn´t have.

"You can stop looking, I told you I´m not hurt." I told him tiredly and he only gave me a look before gently grasping one of my forearms, lifting it up so that my wrist was in front of my eyes.

It looked almost shredded, blood pouring sluggishly from the multiple wounds left by the wire.

"Then what do you call this?" He asked me and proceeded to rinse the blood off with cold water in the sink before wrapping both of my wrists tightly with bandages. He then exhaled slowly and rested his forehead against mine.

"I´m sorry I picked the lock on your door, I was worried." He sighed and opened his eyes to look at mine. "What happened?"

"I woke up and he was there… I have no idea how he got in without either of us noticing…" I answered, letting my eyes close again as if it would protect me from the memories.

"What did he do?" By the end of the question Genma´s voice turned into a growl alerting me to that he was still on edge.

"He kept his hand over my mouth to keep me quiet and then he tied my wrists up with ninja wire and sat on my thighs so that I could barely move."

"But how did you call out for me if his hand was over your mouth?" Genma asked looking a little pale as the different scenarios flew through his head.

"I bit a chunk off out of his hand." I had to swallow several times since the memory of it made me want to hurl again. Genma didn´t say anything though and it made me wonder if he knew the disgusting feeling of thick, warm blood flowing down your throat.

We sat in silence for a little while before I realized.

"I will never be able to sleep in this apartment again." I whispered and then the shock of what had almost happened finally hit. I started shaking and immediately Genma´s muscular arms wrapped around me as if he was trying to hold me together.

It worked. The shaking receded and I clutched onto Genma´s shirt as if he would disappear if I let go. But he kept his arms locked around me and teleported both of us away.

When the smoke lifted I saw that he had taken us to Kakashi's living room and that Kakashi was in the doorway to his bedroom, clad in only a pair of pants and armed with a kunai.

Then he took in the state of us and relaxed a little but not completely, the kunai disappeared and then he asked us.

"What happened?"

"Her old genin captain tried to kill her. He managed to get into her apartment without her or me noticing. He tied her hands up with ninja wire and held a hand to her mouth to keep her quiet. She had to bite off a chunk of his hand to be able to call out for help."

When he got to that part my stomach churned again and I had to leave the comfort of his embrace and bolt to the bathroom once again. There was nothing left in my stomach to throw up though and the dry heaving was exhausting.

I hadn´t bothered locking the door this time and after a few minutes there was a knock and then Kakashi entered the bathroom. I figured that Genma had told him the rest of what had happened so I didn´t say anything, only rested my head on my arms and tried to convince my stomach that this dry heaving was pointless.

A cold, wet towel came to a rest on the back of my neck and it felt absolutely divine. My body temperature lowered back to normal and my stomach eased up a little.

"Thanks…" I whispered to Kakashi, my voice tired and broken.

"Don´t mention it. You think you´ll be able to get some more sleep? You look like you need it." I only nodded and allowed him to pick me up. He took me to his bedroom and it felt great knowing that I didn´t have to tell him that I wouldn´t be able to sleep alone right now.

He tucked us in and I relished in the feeling of his strong, warm body close to mine. It made me feel safe.

But it still took a while before I was able to fall asleep. And I hadn´t even realized that he had been without his face mask the whole time...

* * *

The next morning I had to beg Kakashi not to tell the team about what had happened, they didn´t need to worry about me when doing the second part of the exam in the forest of death and after a while I got his promise.

The days when team seven was in the forest of death was sheer agony. The stress of not knowing how they were doing combined with what had happened in my former apartment was slowly driving me insane.

And I had no luck finding Orochimaru´s spy. When the news came that he had infiltrated the exams I was about to go into the forest of death myself, Genma had to forcibly hold me back.

But Orochimaru got away and all of Konoha 12 left the forest of death alive and most of them passed onto part three of the exams that was being held within a month. But not everything had gone well.

Orochimaru had placed his cursed seal on Sasuke.

I was on my way over to Sasuke´s house, the whole team seven was meeting there to catch up on what had happened during the stressful week that had passed.

I was as usual dressed in black cargo pants and also wore a dark red tube top. I wore black bandages over my still injured wrists, I didn´t want anyone to know about what had happened except for those few that had to know so I hadn´t been to the hospital. That meant the wounds still hadn´t healed and that they were going to leave scars.

Not that I minded a few extra scars, scars was something you had to get used to as a ninja and they didn´t bother me. I reached the small house that was inhabited by Sasuke and Sakura and it seemed like I was the last one here, I could feel four chakra signatures from inside the house.

I knocked on the door and my eyes widened when the chakra signature that belonged to Naruto sped in my direction and I barely had time to brace myself before the door was flung open and Naruto launched himself at me.

He hit my upper body with enough speed and strength to make me topple over and I was bracing myself for impact when another person appeared behind me and steadied me again. Naruto was clinging to me like a baby koala and hadn´t noticed a thing but I looked over my shoulder to see who had rescued me from a possible concussion.

It was Sasuke.

He gave me a nod and then followed me as I walked inside his house and to the living room where Kakashi and Sakura were waiting. Sakura pried Naruto off me so that I could sit down and then the discussion picked up where it had left off.

Naruto and Sakura were telling us about what had happened in the forest of death and Sasuke added things here and there. Kakashi was listening intently on their story, as did I but I was also discreetly watching Sasuke.

To most people he would seem like his usual gloomy self but I knew him better than that. I could see the confusion and fear in his eyes, I could see the pain he felt in his posture and the way he tried to hide the mark without seeming to try to by wearing his high-collared shirts.

"Michi-sensei did something happen to you? Your wearing bandages on your wrists and you seem a little on edge…" Sakura said and pulled my thoughts away from Sasuke and back to the present. I saw Kakashi stiffen from the corner of my eye and apparently the others noticed too.

My shoulders tensed even though I would have thought it impossible since most of the muscles in my shoulders, back and neck had been painfully tense since the incident.

"Yeah and what happened to your apartment? There has to be a reason you´re moving, right?" Naruto asked with a thoughtful look on his face. Sasuke didn´t say anything but his eyes were following my every movement intently.

I sighed and massage my temples in the hopes of relieving the headache that had been following me for the last few days. I didn´t particularly want to tell them about the incident but realized that they weren´t going to drop it and figured that I might as well tell them.

"My old genin captain tried to kill me." I told them and hoped in vain that they wouldn´t ask questions.

"What! Why?" Was Naruto's immediate response and I sighed again.

"He was probably ordered to by Kiri… But he would have tried to kill me anyway had he gotten the chance, in his eyes I was nothing but a failure because I failed to execute my assigned mission. He showed up in my apartment and tied my hands up with ninja wire; I had to bite off a chunk off his hand to call for help." I explained, keeping it short and low on the details but when I mentioned biting off a chunk off his hand Sakura turned green in the face anyway.

"Has any of you seen what kind of damage ninja wire can do?" Kakashi asked them to pull their attention away from me and I sent him a thankful smile. When they all shook their hands no I started to unwrap my bandages, I´d rather turn this into some sort of lesson than having to tell them more.

As my wrists were bared to their eyes, Naruto and Sakura drew in shocked gasps. The wounds had only just started to heal, despite the fact that it had been over a week since it happened. The still looked like they had been shredded and the surrounding skin was red and sore.

I let them watch for a few more minutes before rewrapping them, if I wanted to stay out of the hospital I had to be careful so I didn´t get an infection in them.

We all talked and just hung out for a few more hours before Kakashi and Naruto took off, Sakura left shortly after them to go and meet Ino, Tenten and Hinata for a girl's night. She offered me to come with them but I declined and told her another time, I asked her to tell the others I said hi though.

When it was just me and Sasuke I turned to him and asked him.

"So now that we are alone… care to tell me how you´re doing?"

"I´m fine." He answered shortly and I frowned. He wasn´t telling me the truth… I rose from my seat and went over to him; before he had time to react I sat down in his lap, trapping him on the couch with me.

"Let´s try that again shall we? The truth this time please." He sighed but admitted defeat and said.

"It´s… difficult. It´s hard to control the power and while the pain isn´t so bad it´s constant which almost is worse in a way… I´m… I´m scared for what will happen to me…" He admitted and I hugged him, hard.

"It´s okay to admit when you´re scared Sasuke, why do you think I´m moving from my apartment." I watched as understanding dawned behind his beautiful dark eyes and he said out loud.

"You´re moving because the incident with your old genin captain has frightened you…"

"Not so much the incident itself, but the fact that he managed to get in without Genma or I noticing." I clarified and he nodded thoughtfully. I stayed with him for a little while longer before leaving for my temporary home in Genma's guest room.

I was worried about him, the curse seal could bring out his darker sides and that could make him take a turn for the worse.

I hoped he was going to be alright…

* * *

Please let me know what you think!

Love C


	8. Chapter 8 - A mission with Genma?

I do not own Naruto, only Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 8 – A mission with Genma?_

* * *

**Warning:** Mentions of sex in this one, not to much details though but it is somewhat unwilling.

* * *

When I unlocked the door to Genma´s apartment he was already home and was cooking dinner. I had discovered that Genma was a great cook when he decided to be so we had made a deal that said that he cooked the food and I took care of the cleaning of the apartment.

I was emotionally and mentally drained from the talk with the others earlier and from the talk with Sasuke. All I wanted was a hot shower, a hot meal and some sleep, and hopefully the headache and aching muscles would be better tomorrow…

I ducked into the kitchen and asked Genma if I had time for a shower before dinner to which he only nodded, to concentrated on what he was doing to look up.

I popped into my bedroom to fetch some clean clothes before locking myself in his bathroom. I turned on the shower before shedding my clothes and bandages and put them all in the hamper before stepping under the hot spray of water and sighing contently. The hot water stung on my wrists but felt so good on the rest of me that I ignored the small sting. But my stomach demanded food and I quickly washed my hair and body before drying myself off with one of the fluffy towels that were kept in the bathroom.

I dressed in a pair of navy pajama pants that hung low on my hips and a simple white tank top that left a few inches of my belly showing above the waistband of the pants.

I then let my nose guide me back to the kitchen and the sight of the food made my mouth water in anticipation.

"Hungry?" Genma asked with a smile and I nodded eagerly.

"Very." I assured him and piled food onto my plate. We ate in silence for a while before he noticed my constant stretching to try and relieve some of the pain in my back.

"Is there something wrong with your back?" He asked me with a frown and I shrugged and answered casually.

"I don´t know… I think I´m only too tense. It still hurts though…"

"Do you have a headache?" He asked next without letting up on the frown. I nodded.

"Yeah I´ve had it for about two days now… why?"

"If the muscles in your neck get too tense they can cause headache…" Genma explained absent mindedly and left his seat to come and stand behind me, his large, warm hands landing on my shoulders.

"Genma… What are you doing?" I asked him warily.

"Helping." And then his hands got to work on my unnaturally rock hard shoulder muscles. It was pure pleasure that sometimes boarded on pain. I couldn´t help it, I moaned.

Genma pulled me from my seat and I blinked at him in confusion when he started dragging me in the direction of his bedroom.

"I´m not going to have sex with you Genma." I told him as he closed the door behind us.

"That wasn´t my intention but let me know if you change your mind. I´m going to give you a massage though, it should ease both the pain and the headache…" Genma replied and made me take off my shirt and lay down on my stomach on his bed. He grabbed a bottle of oil and a large towel before moving so that he sat on top of me, straddling my ass.

"I need you to lose the bra." He told me matter-of-factly and I took it off without a second thought. He leaned forward, so that he came closer to my ear and braced himself on his forearms to keep most of his weight off of me.

"Are you okay with me doing this?" He asked, sounding a little unsure.

"Absolutely. You´re one of my best friends Genma and I trust you with my mind, soul and body."

He froze for a moment but soon collected himself and sat back up, pouring some of the oil in his hands to warm it up. When the oil hit my bare back it was nice and warm and his hands moving on my skin, spreading it around was even nicer.

And then he started to massage my tense muscles, and it was pure bliss. I fell asleep to his skilled hands moving over my body.

* * *

The next morning provided a very interesting position to wake up in. Since I had fallen asleep during the massage last night, I was still without a shirt and bra. But the expression on Genma´s face when he woke up to find my body sprawled out on top of him, my chest pressed against his, was hilarious.

He must´ve been convinced that I´d be angry with him but that wasn´t the case. As I had told him the night before, he was one of my best friends. That meant that me falling asleep with him, in his bed, without anything on my upper body didn´t bother me in the slightest.

"Morning Genma…" I told him with a yawn and stretched like a cat while still lying on top of him. He shifted uncomfortably and I could feel his morning hard-on brush against me.

"Morning Michi… Feeling better?" I nodded and smiled at him.

"Much better, thank you!"

"Don´t mention it…" He looked at the door as he answered me and I could almost see the escape plans forming in his head. So I decided to have a little fun with him. He shifted again and I asked him.

"Are you not comfortable?" He looked at me with surprise showing in his eyes but answered slowly.

"I´m comfortable and that´s kind of a part of the problem…" He looked away from me, a light blush coloring his cheeks. But I only smiled.

"And the translation of that is rather simple. You are comfortable, you just don´t want me to know you´ve got a hard-on." He looked a little shocked at my blunt choice of words but nodded weakly.

"Yeah that´s about it…"

"Don´t worry so much, we´re best friends, pretty much anything is okay that happens between the two of us." I told him but got off him and into the shower to give him some private time.

When I exited the bathroom he had already left the apartment, leaving me a note saying that he had been called to the Hokage and that he would see me later.

I didn´t know if he really had been called to the Hokage or if he´d only wanted to be alone for some time but I accepted his excuse and went on making myself some breakfast. I was just finished cleaning up after myself when there was a knock on the front door.

A feeling that something bad had happened overwhelmed my senses and it was with rising dread that I opened the door. To see that it was only Neji on the other side.

"Hi Neji, what can I do for you?" I asked with a bright smile.

"There´s something wrong with Tenten. She went to the Hokage this morning and when she returned she was acting very strange… She´s still down at our training ground with Lee and only stares blankly in front of her while whispering over and over that she needs to go and see you." Neji explained grimly and I felt myself go cold inside, I knew of only one thing that could possibly make Tenten act like this but I needed to be sure.

"I´ll come with you." I told him and we both left the apartment in a hurry.

When we reached their training ground it was just as Neji had described it, she was sitting on the ground not even noticing Lee´s attempts at getting her attention. I turned towards Neji and told him.

"I need you and Lee to not be within hearing distance for this." He tilted his head at me and I could clearly see that he didn´t want to leave.

"Please, if this is about what I believe it is, it´s not my place to tell you. That right belongs to Tenten." That made him change his mind and he and Lee went over to the other side of the large training ground, but their eyes were glued on Tenten and I.

I kneeled in front of Tenten and grasped her cold hands within my own, asking her.

"Tenten? Can you tell me what´s wrong? You´re teammates are worried about you." She slowly focused her eyes on me and I almost flinched at the dead look in her beautiful brown orbs.

"I have been ordered on an X-ranked mission…"

My insides turned to ice before a steely resolve took its place. I had promised her to protect her from this and I would.

"Don´t worry Tenten, I promised to help you and I will. I´ll go on the mission in your place." Tenten´s eyes filled with unshed tears and she asked me in a shaky voice.

"You… You would do that for me?" I simply nodded and gave her a bright wide smile in reassurance. The tears escaped from her eyes and she wrapped her arms around my neck, sobbing all of her fear out on my shoulder. In a flash both of her teammates were at her sides, each placing a hand on one of her shaking shoulders. She looked up from my shoulder and asked me.

"You didn´t tell them?" I shook my head no and told her.

"It isn´t my place to tell." Tenten nodded slowly but kept her hold on me while she told her teammates about X-ranked missions and what they entailed.

When she was done she was once again crying and the boys pale faces told me what they thought of it all. And then she told them that I had offered to take her place on the mission and both of their gazes locked onto me.

"Lee, take Tenten home. I´ll be there in a second as well." Neji more or less ordered Lee but Lee nonetheless picked up Tenten bridal style and after a thankful nod in my direction, he was gone.

I slowly rose to my feet while keeping my eyes on Neji, I didn´t know what he planned but there had to be a reason he stayed behind when it was so very clear to me that he wanted nothing more than to be with Tenten right now.

"Why did you do it?" He asked me and the question caught me off guard.

"Take Tenten´s place you mean?" I clarified and when he nodded I explained my reasoning.

"For one, the only reason she was put on the mission in the first place was because of Danzo and the village elders, and because she has no family that can protect her. There´s no reason for them to send her when I am both the appropriate age and high enough rank. Besides, I have done these kinds of missions before, when I was still in Kiri."

I turned to walk away but before I did I told him over my shoulder.

"I was 12 when I was sent on my first X-ranked mission, I wouldn´t want that for anyone…" With that said I turned back ahead and started walking. I had taken no more than a few steps when Neji´s arms circled around me in a brief hug from behind and he whispered a 'thank you' in my ear before he disappeared in the same directions his teammates had taken earlier.

I smiled a little, who would have thought that the way to gain Hyuga Neji´s respect was to help his teammate?

I quickly reached the Hokage´s office and after explaining that I would take Tenten´s place on the X-ranked mission he actually got up from his seat, walked over to me and engulfed me in a hug as well.

I then returned to Genma´s apartment to pack, only to find Genma in his bedroom with his head in his hands and a half packed backpack on the floor. I became a little worried and went over to him, sitting down next to him while asking what was wrong.

"I´m being sent on an X-ranked mission with a child, a kunoichi who´s only fourteen and still a genin. It makes me feel sick." My gaze softened at his reaction but I told him.

"No you´re not."

"What do you mean? Yes I am." He asked while focusing his eyes on me.

"No you´re not. I´ve talked to the Hokage, he is sending someone else." I told him and hoped that he wouldn´t get to mad at me.

"That´s great." Genma said, relief filling his eyes. "Who is he sending?" I dreaded giving him the answer but better he got to know it now rather than later.

"Me." It was completely silent for a few seconds and then Genma exhaled slowly.

"Please tell me you´re joking… You´re also too young."

"I´m not. I reach the acquired age of sixteen and I have a higher rank than needed. It also won´t be my first X-ranked." I told him stubbornly before leaving him alone to finish his packing and think about what I told him.

I closed myself in the guest room and quickly packed my bag. I didn´t want to do this mission, I had hoped that they were behind me but I couldn´t let this happen to Tenten so early on in life. But I was worried about how I was going to handle the aftermath of this mission, and how would Genma react at seeing me like that?

I quickly locked those thoughts away and instead focused on the present. Just in time to notice that Genma was standing in the doorway, a serious expression on his otherwise carefree face.

"What do you mean it won´t be your first X-ranked?" I sighed deeply but I knew he wasn´t going to give up until I answered him.

"I mean that I have done X-ranked missions before, in Kiri the only rule is that you have to be chuunin or higher, the age don´t matter." I explained quietly while avoiding looking at the pained expression on Genma´s face as he asked the next question.

"How old were you?"

"When they sent me on my first X-ranked? I had barely turned twelve…" I closed my eyes after that, I didn´t want to see Genma´s reaction to that revelation.

But I hadn´t needed to worry. Genma only whispered a heartfelt 'I´m sorry', before returning to his room to finish up his packing. He realized that it wasn´t something that I liked to talk about, so he left it alone.

Kami bless him.

* * *

Three days later found us in a small town right at the border between fire country and earth country, not too far from the ninja village Kusagakure, the village hidden in grass.

I was in our shared motel room, preparing myself while Genma was checking the perimeter once again. He had been twitchy since we left Konoha and I wasn´t any better. But there was no time hesitating now, the target would be in the bar within the hour and then it was my job to get the information from him. He was rumored to have important information on Orochimaru and that was my goal.

I watched myself in the mirror and grimaced. I was wearing a brilliant emerald dress that ended a few inches south of my ass and that had a sweetheart neckline that pushed up my boobs, making them look bigger. On my feet were black stiletto heels that made my legs seem a mile long.

My long blue hair was held back from my face with a pretty pearl clip and my golden eyes were accented with black eyeliner. I looked gorgeous and I hated it.

It was time to leave and meet up with Genma before hooking up with the target. I sighed but did what I had to and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

I reappeared right next to Genma on the roof of a building next door to the one I was going to be in. He jumped a little and spun around to face me but froze in place as he got a good look at my outfit.

"Has the target arrived?" I asked him, trying my best to sound professional and not let him know about the inner turmoil I was feeling.

"Yes he is in position, you can go in when you´re ready." He told me and I nodded my understanding. Then I left him and entered the building below before I changed my mind.

When I entered the bar, the air that hit my face like a wall held the sour smell of old alcohol and the bitter scent of misery. My eyes scanned the dark room with its many tables and booths for my target and I shivered.

There were way too many shadows in here.

Nasty things could hide in the shadows, evil things. The shadows could also hide various blood stains and stains from other bodily fluids; they could hide watching eyes, traps and in worst case scenario even assassins. Yes this many shadows told me that this place was not a good one to be in.

Too bad I had too.

When my eyes finally found the man accused of having the information we were here for, I was taken aback. I had expected him to be middle aged, fat and ugly as a rat but to my surprise he looked… normal.

He was in his early thirties, tall and well-muscled though not as much as a shinobi. I figured he was a civilian then and went back to take in the rest of his appearance. Black hair, a little on the long side and eyes the same green as my dress.

I made my way over to the booth he was seated in and noticed that he was sitting alone. I stood in front of him confidently and asked him with a hopeful voice.

"Hi my name´s Kaida are you by any chance named Masao?" He looked up at me and his frown was replaced by a small smirk that he probably thought was sexy. I on the other hand simply found it sleazy.

"I am sorry to say that my name is in fact not Masao, it is Osamu." I faked disappointment and slid in next to him, pouting and crossing my arms over my chest to make him look at my boobs and lips.

"Damn it… My friend set me up on a date with her friend Masao but it seems like he doesn´t plan on showing up…" I changed my voice so that it sounded sad before turning and looking up at the man beside me through thick eyelashes coated with black mascara and asked him.

"Am I not pretty enough?" I let my lower lip tremble a little and the target swallowed my bait like the stupid little fish he was. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to his own body before giving me a once over and telling me.

"You my dear look stunning, how about you join me for tonight and forget about that stupid Masao. You would have a much better time with me I assure you." I wanted to throw up all over him but nevertheless accepted his invitation and his offer for a drink.

The invitation I needed to get close to him without raising his suspicion, the other I needed for what I knew had yet to come.

A few hours later the target was on his way on becoming drunk, I on the other hand had had the same amount of alcohol as him and wasn´t even buzzed.

Either he was a lightweight or I had begun drinking way too early in life…

But the alcohol would make it easier for me to extract the information from him later so I approved. For the last ten minutes he had been staring at the stairwell on the other end of the room, the one leading to the private rooms upstairs that customers could rent.

"What do you say about joining me in my room for the night sweetheart? I could show you a few tricks that I learned from my brother…" The last part was probably spoken to hopefully earn my curiosity and make me more inclined to accept his offer.

It only made me want to gag though.

Nevertheless I accepted his offer and to make him believe I was more affected by the alcohol than I was, I stumbled several times as he led me through the crowded room.

He took me upstairs and into a room that he had clearly rented beforehand. He pushed me down on the bed and got on top of me, holding me down with his bodyweight while placing sloppy kisses all over my mouth, face and neck.

His hands were rough, his kisses sloppy and rather disgusting and when he pushed inside of me it was with no care for me or my well-being. Despite his alluring words he was nothing more than an animal, satisfying his own needs, when it came down to the final act.

He did give me the information I was sent here for though. Even if I had to let him use my body in a number of humiliating and embarrassing ways before he was satisfied. As I pulled what remained of my dress back on, I killed the target in the most satisfying ways in my head and cursing the fact that he had had a mean streak within him.

My back and ass had red welts marring my tanned skin from when he had whipped me with his belt and the inside of my thighs and both of my breast had several bite marks that ached and stung.

But I left the room without touching him, and that meant the mission was a success. I teleported back to the motel room I shared with Genma and locked myself in the bathroom before sending him the signal that the mission had been a success and that he could come back here too and get some rest.

I went into the shower and started running the water, the water started out cold but gradually warmed up to the point where it was burning my skin. I had went in with the remnants of my dress still on but now I got into a frenzy and tore the drenched fabric from my body.

All the little wounds and injuries that the bastard had placed on my body stung at the contact with the water but I relished in the small blossoms of pained that bloomed all over my body.

I gripped a bar of soap and started the time-consuming work of trying to feel clean again before I ran out of soap. I washed my body and then my hair and then my body once more, coming to the decision that I still wasn´t clean and starting over.

When I was on my third time doing that my skin was already red and raw but I wasn´t close to even thinking about stopping. The knock on the door halted my movements for a moment though.

"Michi are you okay? Do you need medical attention?" Genma´s voice floated through the door and reached my sensitive ears with no problem, I just couldn´t find my voice to answer him.

I knew he had escorted Kunoichi's on these kinds of missions before so my behavior shouldn´t be surprising to him, but it was because I knew I didn´t handle the aftermath like other Kunoichi's. Most Kunoichi's took a shower and then got drunk and wanted either sex or a fight.

But because I had been so young when going on my first X-ranked, I had reacted with extreme self-hatred. I could stay in the shower, trying to scrub myself raw only to feel clean again, up to twelve hours straight.

I had never had anyone escorting me though, so I didn´t know how to handle his concern towards my well-being. That caused my inability to speak and therefore in a way, caused what happened next.

Genma got worried when I didn´t answer him and unlocked the door from the outside.

When he entered the steaming bathroom his eyes first noticed the abused dress on the floor and as he closed the door behind him again, his eyes rose until they rested on my pathetic appearance and wide eyes.

Since I still couldn´t assemble words or even move at this point, he took the opportunity to search my body for injuries. He frowned at my raw, red skin and I could see his jaws clench together when he noticed the bite marks and the red welts the belt had left behind.

Then he noticed the look in my eyes and the way I gripped the bar of soap and he let out a long exhale.

"Oh sweet Kami… Why did you do this Michi? Why didn´t you let them send someone else?" He asked while slowly moving closer to me not expecting me to flinch away from his touch.

"Because that someone else would have been Tenten, and I didn´t want this to happen to anybody else…" I answered in a whisper while going back to scrub my skin viciously with the bar of soap.

"Why don´t you want me to touch you? Are you afraid that I´ll hurt you?" He asked while watching me with searching eyes.

"No, I know you won´t hurt me. But I am filthy, unclean, and I can´t allow anyone to touch me like this, the filthiness might spread." I explained with my head bowed.

And because my head was bowed, I didn´t see Genma shed his clothes and preparing to join me in the shower.

When gentle hands suddenly landed on top of my own, halting their movements, I flinched back. Straight into Genma´s well-muscled chest. He wrapped one arm loosely around my waist to keep me steady and he clearly expected me to panic, I expected that too but I was too shocked to even breathe right now so the panic never came.

My body was frozen solid but Genma´s gentle hands turned me around so that we were standing face to face. His caring actions brought tears to my eyes and before I realized it myself, I was crying and he pulled me in for a hug while asking me.

"Has nobody ever cared for you after a mission like this?" I shook my head no.

"I have always been on my own, Kiri don´t send escorts on X-ranked missions. The kunoichi is on her own." I felt him tense and knew he was angry about what I told him, I hadn´t expected his next question though…

"Will you let me take care of you?" I was once again stunned both silent and paralyzed but when Genma with much gentler hands then my own started washing my body I let him.

He washed my hair with the same gentle touch and when he was done rinsing it for the last time he washed my body once again, just as I would have done it myself.

Despite the situation I had been in less than two hours ago, I didn´t feel uncomfortable in the slightest being naked in the shower with Genma, who was equally naked. I figured it was because I trusted him not to do anything I didn´t want.

And the way his hands moved gently over my body might have played a tiny part in that decision. The man was skilled with his hands no matter what he used them for apparently.

But when he turned the water off after rinsing my body a final time, I protested a little even if it was weakly and half-hearted. He only locked his intense gaze on me and told me.

"You are clean now Michi, trust me." And since I did I allowed him to wrap me in a towel before leading me out to the double bed we had shared since our arrival here. He made me lay down on my stomach and told me he was going to rub some ointment on the red welts.

I only nodded my head in acceptance and then my towel was removed and his gentle hands were once again placed on my body. I shuddered when the cool ointment was spread over my back and ass with the help of Genma´s hands, the relief was immediate but Genma was worried he was hurting me.

"Let me know if I do anything to cause you pain or if you simply want me to stop." He told me, his voice low and serious. I assured him that I was fine and he continued.

When he was done with that he gave me a pair of his black boxers to wear and I pulled them on. I was thankful for the gesture of him lending me his clothes; it made me feel a little better. He wore a similar pair himself but nothing more and the amount of skin showing between the two of us still didn´t bother me and I doubted that it ever would.

"May I take a look at the bite marks? I want to make sure he didn´t break the skin…" Genma asked and while I blushed a little, I nodded and rolled over on my back.

He looked at the bite marks on my chest, being careful when touching them, before he looked at those on my thighs. After deeming that he had in fact not broken my skin in any place he lifted the covers of the bed and tucked us both in.

He curled himself around my body and I relished in the close contact with his hard body, his warmth and the gentle touches he kept giving me.

"Genma?"

"Hmm?" He replied sleepily.

"Thank you…"

And with that I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

* * *

The three day trip back to the village went smoothly and while the Hokage eyed me worriedly when we gave our report, he didn´t say anything.

Kakashi acted like a worried mother hen along with Genma for the first few days but when they both saw that I was acting just like I usually did, they eased up on the over-protectiveness.

Tenten and her teammates Neji and Rock Lee showed up at my new apartment one evening and we shared a meal, a few drinks and even a few laughter's. When they left I got hugs from all three of them, even Neji.

But the second part of the chuunin exams were approaching fast and the closer the date for the finals came, the larger the bad feeling grew.

* * *

Please let me know what you think! I thank the few of you that are following the story for your support.

Love C


	9. Chapter 9 - The chuunin exams: Part 2

I do not own Naruto

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 9 – The chuunin exams: Part two_

* * *

This chapter is dedicated to my first and so far only reviewer, NIX

* * *

The day of the finals had finally arrived and it was with both anticipation and a slight feeling of dread that I took my place with the rest of team seven in the stands.

The first match was Naruto vs. Neji and I wanted both boys to win, they both needed it. Naruto needed it to be recognized by the village and Neji needed it to gain approval from his uncle, the head of the Hyuga clan.

To watch their match was doing a number on my nerves that´s for sure.

Naruto won.

The other matches passed in a blur and I was growing more and more nervous since Kakashi and Sasuke had yet to arrive. Sakura, who was seated next to me, seemed to have the same problem.

But they arrived, just in the nick of time. And then things went crazy.

In the middle of their match Gaara half transformed into Shukaku, the one tailed beast and they both left the arena. About the same time, feathers rained down over the arena, putting the people in it in a Genjutsu that I was able to break easily thanks to my training with Kurenai.

I could hear distant explosions and saw a large creature that indicated that there were enemies attacking the village and that there was a large animal summon on the loose. I also saw a barrier come up over at the Hokage tower. Enemy ninja showed up everywhere and following my instincts, I summoned my ghosts to help out.

_"Summoning style: Ghosts of the pasts!"_

Five identical poofs of smoke appeared and when the smoke cleared, I was surrounded by my faithful ghosts. The five of them were equally tall and all of them had only color in their eyes.

Anda, a girl, had long hair that was free from any containment; she was wielding her Scythe like a master and her eyes were a glowing shade of purple.

Bishamon, a man with short wild hair and glowing blood red eyes that from a distance reminded one of the sharingan. He was using a katana with a long sharp blade like it was an extension of his own body.

Chiko, another male. His hair was wavy and shoulder length and his eyes were glowing like the others, the eyes a bright yellow, like the sun. His weapon of choice was a crossbow that he worked with an aim that equaled Tenten´s.

Kasumii, the other girl. She wore her long hair in a high ponytail like me and her eyes were toxic looking, a glowing lime green. She didn´t have a weapon since her role was a more subtle one, she was a spy.

And of course Asa was here, since he specialized in healing and protecting. The five of them inclined their heads in my direction, waiting for orders.

"Asa I have a feeling that the Hokage is inside that barrier." I said to him and pointed to the bright blue box in the direction of the Hokage tower. "I want you inside that barrier, protecting him!" Asa nodded once to show that he understood his orders before leaving. I then turned to Kasumii.

"Kasumii I need to know what´s going on here. I need you to regularly check on the Hokage, the summon, how the attack on the village is going and what´s going on with Gaara and Sasuke and report back to me." I got another nod before she too disappeared from sight.

"Anda, Bishamon, I need the two of you out in the village. Fight the enemy ninja and the animal summon." They were on their way almost before I had stopped talking and that left me with only Chiko without orders.

I noticed that Sakura, Naruto and that Nara kid had disappeared and figured that they had gone after Sasuke and Gaara. Chiko could see what I was planning and begged me.

"Please let me remain by your side Michi. You can´t watch your own back and in a fight like this you´ll need me more than the kids do." I was just about to tell him no and to go after the younger ones of my team when another voice added their opinion.

"Your summon is right Michi, don´t act stupid, your summons can´t help anyone if you die." The person who had spoken was Kakashi who was fighting back to back with his rival and friend, Gai.

"Fine." I bit out. "Chiko you´re with me, let´s go deal with this mess." I told him before jumping down on the arena floor where the Konoha shinobi was drowning in ninja from Sound.

"Chiko get all the Konoha nins away from here! I´m going to use one of my collaboration techniques!" He nodded once and started with his task, if there was any Konoha ninja left when I executed my technique, they were going to be trapped in deadly friendly fire.

Trusting Chiko to do his part, I started the technique by forming the hand seals and whispering the name of the jutsu so that the enemy didn´t overhear me.

_"Water release: Exploding water colliding wave!"_

Water gushed from my mouth and covered the entire arena floor after the waves had died out. That technique itself was a deadly one but I had a way to make it even more lethal. Another set of hand seals were formed and then the second part of the jutsu fired up.

_"Lightning release: Lightning beast running technique!"_

Lightning engulfed my right hand and moved into the shape of a big hound, connecting it to my hand by a leash made of lightning. I quickly formed the remaining set of seals and called out.

_"Collaboration jutsu: Discharge lightning calamity technique!"_

I set the hound free from its leash and as it ran across the surface of the water, everybody that was in contact with the water got shocked and was unable to move. The hound simply had to go from person to person and kill them off.

As I watched the jutsu execute, Kasumii popped up behind me and gave a report on what was happening around me.

"The Hokage is inside of the barrier with his summon Enma and Asa. They are facing off against Orochimaru and the reanimated first and second Hokage, Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju. The large animal summon, a three headed snake is still on a rampage but Anda and Bishamon are fighting their way through masses of Sound ninja to get to it. The invasion of the village seems to have halted but the enemy has yet to retreat. The children by the names of Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are still following the Jinchuriki named Gaara. The Nara kid has engaged in battle and seems to have a hard time by himself."

"Thank you Kasumii." I called out to her as she disappeared again.

"Chiko! I need you following the kids now! One of them is in trouble."

"But Michi…" He started but I interrupted him.

"No! You do as I say Chiko, I will join Kakashi and Gai and try to work my way to the snake summon. You go and help the kid and then you can come back to me if that is what your wish, but I will not abandon a comrade!"

Chiko bowed his head but followed my orders and disappeared in a poof of smoke. I quickly checked my chakra levels before jumping back up to Kakashi and Gai. The arena was almost empty of enemies but the collaboration attack took a chunk out of my reserves and summoning all five of the ghosts also took a great part so now my chakra reserves was down to about 75 %.

Thankfully I had a rather large chakra reserve so if I didn´t have to use any larger jutsu's I would be fine. I unsheathed my katana and helped Kakashi and Gai to finish of the last few enemies in the arena before we continued out in the city in the direction of the giant snake summon.

Gai broke away from us when he caught sight of two of his students fighting against enemy shinobi. Neji and Tenten were severely outnumbered but Gai assured us that he would be fine on his own so Kakashi and I continued forward.

We traveled along the deserted streets of Konoha without seeing anyone until we reached what used to be the marketplace. The place was infested with sound ninja and in the middle of them all were Anko and Genma, fighting back to back.

Kakashi and I shared a quick nod before throwing ourselves into the mass of enemy ninja to try and reach our comrades and help them.

I wielded my katana in a way that only natural talent and years of practice could forge, my movement's fluid making it looked as if I was dancing.

But suddenly another sword clashed against mine and my movements faltered, making the other sword come into contact with the bare skin on my forearm. As the sword lodged itself in my radius bone I clenched my jaws together and used it to wrench the sword away from the enemy ninja.

I pulled the sword from my arm with a grunt of pain and then killed off the surrounding enemy´s with a sword in each hand. But using the swords exaggerated the bleeding and I had to seal my katana away for now, until I had the time to bandaged the deep wound and stop the bleeding.

I threw the enemy sword away and it impaled two people to the wall of a house. I then went through the hand seals for another large scale jutsu.

_"Water release: Tearing torrent!"_

Water started to spiral from my hand and I spun around, taking down enemy´s in a circle around me before going into the next stage of the technique.

_"Wind release: Rasengan!"_

Another spiral came from my other hand, this time a wind one and then I made the last set of hand seals before smashing my hands together and exclaiming.

_"Collaboration jutsu: Typhoon water vortex technique!"_

The water and wind spiraling from my hands fused together and created a giant vortex that combined the two elements, making it easy to take out a large amount of enemies.

I reached Anko and Genma about the same time as Kakashi and the four of us took down the remaining enemies with little difficulty. The second collaboration jutsu combined with the blood loss had taken a toll on me though.

As I ripped a piece off of my shirt to use as a bandage I did another scan on my chakra levels. I was down on 60 %. The strip of fabric was taken from my hands and I looked up to see Kakashi's face close to mine, his eyes examining the deep wound in my arm.

"How did this happen?" He asked while tying the strip of fabric tightly around my arm, putting pressure against the wound.

"Sword." Was my only explanation and he grimaced but didn´t comment on it. There was no time for that now. Kasumii popped up with another report just as we were ready to move on.

"Michi, I have another report for you."

"Tell me." I ordered and she immediately did.

"The Hokage is holding his ground against the enemy for now, Anda and Bishamon are fighting the summon but they are in the need of help. The summon is moving closer and closer to the academy who hasn´t been evacuated. The kids are fighting the now fully transformed Jinchuriki but they are receiving help from Chiko so they should be fine. The Nara kid is fine but low on chakra. The enemy ninja is forced on the retreat and will soon be overwhelmed."

"Thanks Kasumii." I told her as she vanished again.

"Michi! Kakashi and I are headed for the Hokage, you and Anko should continue towards the summon though, we need to keep those kids in the academy safe." Genma told me and I nodded my understanding before he and Kakashi disappeared.

Anko and I exchanged a glance before taking off in the opposite direction. We may be tired from all the fighting and we did have a few wounds each, thankfully nothing serious, but we were not going to abandon those kids.

"How are your chakra levels?" Anko asked me as we followed the trail of destruction towards the summon.

"About 60 %, yours?"

"45 %."

We shared another look before forcing our legs to move even faster.

When we finally came upon the summon it was only a few blocks away from the school and we could hear the screams from the terrified children even here.

The giant three headed snake was wounded but still going strong. Anda and Bishamon were launching attack after attack but they barely seemed to injure the beast.

I whistled and they turned their heads to look in our direction, coming over when they noticed it was me.

"Michi." They both greeted me and then a plan formed in my head.

"Anko." I said, catching the attention of the older woman. "You´re a snake summoner right? If we penetrate the cranium of each of its heads at the same time, would it kill it?"

Anko nodded her head slowly. "Yes it would, the trouble is to get there without getting killed."

"If Anda, Bishamon and I try and reach its heads, would you be able to distract it?" I asked her and watched her think about it seriously before answering.

"I can do that." I smiled at her and told her.

"Then do it."

I watched as she summoned an army of smaller snakes before taking off with Anda and Bishamon hot on my heels, heading for the giant skulls of the snake.

We split up and it took me a lot of dodging and almost ten minutes before I was in position above one of the heads. I unsealed my katana and waited for the signal. A shrill whistle sounded and I pushed my sharp blade straight through the skull of the snake.

The giant creature disappeared from underneath me, Anda and Bishamon in a cloud of smoke and I was sent into a free fall. And there was no stopping it, Anko was too far away and Anda and Bishamon was as helpless as I was.

The landing was harsh.

On impact with the ground an excruciating pain went through my body, originating from my left shoulder. I let out a short scream before regaining control and just breathed for a moment to control the pain.

I forced myself up in a sitting position and when no other pains made an appearance, I slowly returned to standing. Anko appeared by my side and was reached for my left arm when I pulled out of reach from her.

"Left shoulder is most likely dislocated but otherwise I´m fine." I told her through gritted teeth and went over to where Anda and Bishamon laid broken on the ground. Their landings hadn´t been as fortunate as mine so I sent them back to their dimension for them to recover.

Anko and I then made our way down the street to the academy to check on the children, supporting each other as we went. She suffered from chakra exhaustion and I from my injuries.

The first person we met was Iruka and had it not been for my characteristic blue hair he wouldn´t have recognized us. We were covered in dirt and blood and exhaustion was clear in our eyes.

Just as he was about to ask us what had happened, Kasumii came back to give yet another report.

"Oh Michi what happened?" She exclaimed when she got a good look on me.

"I dislocated my shoulder when I hit the ground after the giant snake disappeared underneath me; I had to send Anda and Bishamon back though so I consider myself lucky."

"Wait a second." Iruka interrupted. "You mean that you, Anko and two of your summons took down the three headed snake summon?" when both Anko and I nodded his jaw fell in surprise and awe but at least he was quiet so Kasumii could give her report.

"Right, the Hokage´s having problems we need to get that barrier down but no one there seems to be able to do it. The kids have taken some damage but they will all be fine, the fight is over and it even seems as if the blonde and the red head have bonded. They won´t be going anywhere on their own though, and Chiko was injured and had to go back home." Kasumii told me and I thanked her before asking her to go and watch over the kids.

She did so without complaints and I then turned to Anko and Iruka.

"I´m leaving Anko in your hands Iruka, I need to go and help at the Hokage tower." Both of them looked like they were going to protest against me going so I teleported away before they had the time to complain.

When I arrived at the Hokage tower it was to total chaos and a lot of panic. I searched the crowd for a familiar face but didn´t find any since I had to keep away from other people so that they didn´t collide with my bad shoulder.

Thankfully a familiar face found me.

"Hey Michi! Over here!" I heard Genma yell and I saw him waving while standing a little bit away from all the other people. Kakashi was with him, as was two people who looked a lot like Ino and the Nara kid that had gone with Naruto and Sakura before.

I made my way over to them and since there was no time for Genma or Kakashi to ask about my injuries they simply introduced the other two people.

The Ino look-a-like turned out to be her father, Inoichi and the one that looked like the Nara kid was his father, Shikaku.

"Does anyone have any idea on how to tear down this motherfucking barrier?" I asked with a growl to hide the pain and tiredness in my voice, masking it as anger.

"There´s a possibility that if we can disturb the chakra flow inside the barrier, it will crumble but we haven´t figured out a way to do that yet since it would take quite a bit of chakra and there´s no one here with both the ability and the chakra to do it." Shikaku explained and I immediately realized why Kasumii had told me this.

With a little bit of luck, I might be able to take this sucker down.

"Would a chakra pulse work?" I asked Shikaku since he seemed to be the one with the answers. He nodded slowly and said.

"It would. You can do that?"

I nodded as well. "I can. The question is if I have enough chakra left, I´m down at 55 %."

"Inoichi, do a scan on her." Shikaku ordered his comrade before he turned back to me.

"Would you be willing to give it a try, even if it meant that you had to use most of what chakra you have left?" He asked me and I didn´t hesitate before answering.

"I would."

Shikaku then clasped his hand onto my good shoulder and told me with his eyes locked onto mine.

"Then you are a true Konoha shinobi, no matter what village you originate from." We smiled at each other and then Inoichi was done with his scan and told us the results.

"We´re lucky she has larger chakra reserves than most, 45 % out of her 55 % should be enough to take the barrier down."

I quickly thanked him and then made my way towards the barrier with the four men surrounding me and protecting my bad shoulder from more injuries. I hadn´t told them that my shoulder was injured, but since you could tell it was dislocated by simply looking at it they knew anyway.

We also knew that I couldn´t have it popped back into place until after the battle, in case the pain became too much and I lost consciousness.

We reached the barrier and I touched the barrier only to flinch back as an electric current ran through my body.

"Dammit…" I whispered under my breath but placed the palm of my good arm against the barrier anyway. The electric current hurt but not more than I could handle. Instead I focused on gathering most of what was left of my chakra in the palm of my right hand.

Inoichi had said that 45 % would be enough but I didn´t take any chances and charged it until I has used 50 %. I then pushed all the chakra from my palm and into the barrier. The amount of chakra coupled with the electric current burned my hand so badly that the others could smell burnt flesh.

But the barrier crumbled and fell so it didn´t matter that my hand was badly burned. I went down to my knees, panting since my chakra reserves were now down on 5 %.

But then the first scream was heard and that´s when I realized that we had been too late. The Hokage was dead.

Asa was nowhere in sight and I figured that he had been sent home when I released the chakra pulse. Sorrow for the dead Hokage made my heart ache but I was too tired to properly realize what exactly had happened and what that meant.

But that was a problem for tomorrow.

Right now I struggled to get back onto my feet, Naruto and the others were still out in the forest, too hurt to get back on their own. And since Asa was gone, I figured that Kasumii was as well.

A hand reached down to help me and I grabbed it thankfully allowing the person to help me up. I looked up and met the brown eyes of Shikaku; they were filled with sorrow like mine. And like me he realized that there would be time for mourning later, now was not the time.

Since my chakra levels were dangerously low, I realized that there was no way I was teleporting to where the kids where. When I took a few unsteady steps away from all the other people, Shikaku asked me where I was going.

"I have to go to Naruto and the others… Kasumii said their fight with Gaara was over but that they wouldn´t be going anywhere so I´m assuming that they are hurt. You´re kid is there too, he suffers from chakra exhaustion but is otherwise okay."

"Shikamaru´s there?" He asked and I saw a flash of fatherly worry appear in his eyes. I nodded and took another step but he stopped me again.

"Wait Michi, Inoichi and I will go and get them. You´re injured, chakra exhausted and on the brink of collapsing. I also know that Genma´s and Kakashi's apartments have been destroyed so why don´t you take those two with you and go home. The three of you has done a lot to aid Konoha today; you deserve the rest and tomorrow are going to be rough enough."

I didn´t find the strength to answer him, it was as if the last of my energy had been drained from my body when he mentioned what tomorrow would bring.

Shikaku picked me up, being careful with my hurting shoulder and took me back to Genma, Kakashi and Inoichi.

"Kakashi!" Shikaku yelled and when he looked up and saw the state I was in he and Genma were immediately crowding me.

"Take her home, fix her injuries and raise her chakra levels. Inoichi and I will take care of the rest for tonight. But before you go, do any of you know who took down the snake summon?"

"I did." I answered from Shikaku´s arms. "With the help of Anko and two of my own summons, that's when I dislocated my shoulder."

The men exchanged a look of wonder and awe before they gently moved me from Shikaku´s arms to Kakashi's. Kakashi and Genma then took off in the direction of my apartment that was thankfully still standing and unharmed.

Genma unlocked my door and we all gathered in the kitchen for a moment to get our bearings. Kakashi put me down slowly but didn´t let go completely despite the fact that my legs did hold my weight.

"So… What do we do now?" I asked them, feeling lost.

"We fix you up since Kakashi and I have escaped without injuries, then we make some food and get some sleep. Tomorrow we fetch what we can and try to find another place to stay." Genma said somberly.

"You can stay here for as long as you want." I told them while trying to keep the pain away from my face.

"Thanks Michi." Kakashi said. "Forgive me for this."

I was just about to ask what he was searching for forgiveness for when the excruciating pain was back in my shoulder and I only kept from screaming by biting down on my lower lip until I tasted blood.

He had pulled my shoulder back into place.

I fell backwards into Kakashi's broad chest and he curled an arm around my stomach to keep me standing.

"Sorry…" He whispered into my ear and as I let my head loll back against his shoulder, I became aware that Genma materialized in front of me, gently wiping the blood from my lower lip.

Kakashi picked me up again and then followed Genma as he walked into my bathroom, turning on the shower and then shed his bloody and dirty clothes before stepping in under the spray of water.

Kakashi managed to get me out of my clothes without hurting my sore shoulder and then he handed me over to Genma who held me up so that I was both comfortable and feeling safe in the knowledge that I wouldn´t fall.

Kakashi then shed his own clothes, including his face mask and joined us under the hot water. To most people, sharing a shower with two naked men would have been at least a little uncomfortable but that wasn´t the case with the three of us.

Those two were my best friends and I had already shared a shower with one of them so I didn´t see what should be uncomfortable.

Besides, with the fight we had just been through, no one cared about seeing each other naked. We were too tired and hurt for the situation to be even remotely sexual.

The boys cleaned me with gentle and caring hands before cleaning themselves. Genma exited the shower first and after drying himself off, he left to go and make us some food in the kitchen.

Kakashi exited with me next, he managed to wrap a towel around his waist and another one around me without letting me go. I have to admit it, I was impressed.

He took me to my bedroom where he put me down on the bed before pulling a standard jounin uniform in his size from my closet, both he and Genma had clothes here.

When he was once again dressed he returned to me and patted me dry before changing the make-shift bandage on my arm for a real one and smearing ointment on my burned palm before wrapping that one too.

He then dressed me in a pair of soft cotton shorts and a loose fitting tank top before taking me back to the kitchen where Genma was just about done making the food.

I was almost in a comatose state by now so Genma and Kakashi had to work to get me to eat a little. They gave up after half of my portion and took me back to my bedroom to tuck me in.

They placed me in the middle of my king sized bed but when they attempted to leave I protested.

"Please don´t leave me…" I whispered with my eyes closed since I was too tired to keep them open any longer.

"We won´t leave you, one of us will be in your guest room and the other on the futon in your living room." Kakashi said but I shook my head slowly from side to side.

"No, stay, sleep here with me." I clarified and thankfully they complied without asking me why. I couldn´t help it but I was absolutely terrified of being alone right now, it might´ve been because I was so weak.

I was completely helpless in the event that an enemy showed up.

They got into my bed with me and I rolled over on my side so that I was laying on my right side, my head on Kakashi's shoulder and one arm around his waist and Genma spooning me from behind, his strong arm a comforting weight across my own waist.

That´s how I fell asleep.

* * *

Let me now what you think.

**Question: Who would you want to take care of you when you´re sick?**

I´d like Sasori to care for me, he has confidence enough to trust in his abilities and with all the poisons he make and the fact that he turned himself into a puppet, his knowledge of the human anatomy has to be extensive. He is calm and therefore wouldn´t panic if my health took a turn for the worse and he is usually rather quiet, which is good in case of a headache.

Love C


	10. Chapter 10 - Funeral and a new Hokage

I do not own Naruto, only Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 10 – A funeral and a new hokage_

* * *

The next few days were complete and utter chaos. Half of the village needed to be rebuilt or repaired, thank kami for Yamato. People were crying everywhere and a lot of people were homeless.

The only happy point was that Shikamaru and Neji was declared chuunin.

Most of the ninja had their most prized possessions in safes to prevent losing them. It was something that had occurred after the nine tailed kyubi went on a rampage in the village. But the high number of now homeless people was a problem that needed a solution fast. Even though everyone with their homes still standing opened those up for the people who were without, it still wasn´t enough.

Take me for example; I was housing the entire team seven in my two-bedroom apartment. That meant that Kakashi, Genma and I was still sharing my large king sized bed. Sasuke and Sakura shared the queen bed in my guest room and Naruto slept on my futon in the living room.

I knew a lot of the Konoha 12 was in similar situations. Iruka was housing Anko, Gai and Rock Lee. Tenten was staying with Neji and Hinata. Kurenai was staying with Asuma. The rest of Konoha 12 belonged to large clans and most of the compounds were unharmed since they were located to the edges of the village.

Today was the day of the third Hokage´s funeral.

I was locked in my bedroom with Sakura, trying to find some clothes that would be appropriate. Sakura was dressed in a knee length black skirt with a simple black blouse on top. She was head-deep in my closet and was pulling out clothes I didn´t even knew I owned.

We settled on a pair of simple, black pants and a fitted, button-up shirt, my black headband tied tightly around my neck. We left the bedroom and met up with the boys in the living room to leave for the funeral together.

Everybody was silent as we walked over to where the funeral would be held, even the weather was gloomy and the dark clouds indicated that it might rain soon.

We stood next to each other during the ceremony, drawing strength from each other. I had Genma on my left side and Kakashi on my right, one of their hands each clasping one of my own.

On the other side of Kakashi was Sakura and he had a hand on her shoulder. She also clasped the hand of Sasuke who was on her other side. Sasuke and Naruto were standing so close together that there was only a single millimeter of air in between them but clearly that was what they needed. Next to Naruto was Iruka who had one arm around Naruto and the other around Konohamaru who was crying silently.

Halfway through the ceremony the sky opened up and rain started falling, the rain reminded me so much of tears that I tilted my head up towards the sky and let my own fall.

I didn´t notice when the ceremony ended, or that Kakashi took Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke back to my apartment. Not until Genma tugged lightly at my hand at least.

"Come on Michi, let´s go back home."

"You go ahead; I need to be alone for a little while. I´ll be home in an hour, I promise." I told him and he left, even if it was unwillingly. I knew that they had called Jiraiya back to the village and I believed that I had spotted his long white hair on top of the Hokage Mountain.

I waited until Genma was out of sight and then teleported up to my favorite spot on the Hokage Mountain. And just like I had thought, Jiraiya was there as well. He spun around, a kunai in his hand that he held against my throat while demanding.

"Who are you!?" I stayed still and showed him my empty hands. I knew that the third had written letters to Jiraiya at least once a week so I counted on that he knew who I was when I told him my name.

"I´m Michi." I could see that he was surprised to hear that but he did retract the kunai from my neck.

"The jounin kunoichi from Kirigakure? That´s you? I would have thought you´d be older…" He said and I gave him a tiny smile.

"Yup that´s me… And I´m sixteen." I told him but then turned serious.

"Look I know that the elders have offered the position of Hokage to you and that you declined it. I also know that tomorrow, you and Naruto will leave the village to go and look for Tsunade in the hopes of convincing her to accept the role as fifth Hokage." The more I talked the lower Jiraiya´s jaw went, but he didn´t seem angry with me, only surprised.

"And how do you know all this?" He finally asked, clearly not knowing what else to say. I gave him another tiny smile and went through the hand seals for my summoning jutsu.

_"Summoning style: Ghosts of the pasts."_

And in a poof of smoke, Kasumii appeared.

"Hi Michi! Do you need my services again?" She asked me happily but I shook my head no.

"Not this time Kasumii, I want you to meet Jiraiya, Konoha´s spy master." She turned around and then walked in a circle around Jiraiya, making him a little nervous.

He looked at me and asked. "Is she a ghost?" I nodded in return and explained.

"Yes, my summons are ghosts. I have five of them and Kasumii here is my spy. That´s how I know what´s going on. And since Danzo and the elder's don´t like me in the slightest, I felt the need to keep an eye on what´s happening in the village in case they decide to give me back to Kiri now that the third can no longer protect me."

"I understand. But surely you didn´t seek me out just to tell me all this?" He concluded and I nodded.

"You´re absolutely right, I came to ask that when you and Naruto leave the village tomorrow, you take me with you." He didn´t show any reaction at all to my demand but instead asked another question.

"Why do you want to come?" I bit my lower lip in hesitation but then told him the truth that I hadn´t even told the people I was living with.

"I don´t believe that I´m safe inside the village right now. Despite all the things I did for the village during the invasion I believe that Danzo and the elders want me gone. I believe that Danzo will try and have me assassinated now that we doesn´t have a Hokage."

Jiraiya kept his eyes on me the entire time I talked and I believe that it was to determine if I was lying or not.

"I believe you." He told me suddenly. "That is something that Danzo and the elders would do. You can come with me and Naruto tomorrow."

"Thank you." I told him, relief filling my body.

"Yeah no problem, it´s always nice to travel in the company of a beautiful woman." Jiraiya answered with a smirk before growing serious again. "You wouldn´t know where Naruto is staying are you? His apartment building was destroyed."

I nodded. "Sure I do, he´s staying with me. All of team seven is, as well as Genma. But I have one futon left if you need a place to stay?"

"If you have room for me I won´t say no."

"Then let´s go! Genma and Kakashi are going to worry unless I get home soon." I told him and led the way through the village.

When I returned home with Jiraiya, the evening of this sorrow filled day turned into a small party and when I told everyone that I would join Jiraiya and Naruto and why, they all took it in stride.

Apparently I wasn´t the only one who had thought that it would be good if I left the village for a little while.

I spend a portion of the night packing what I needed to bring with me and the rest of it was spent with my friends. You never knew what tomorrow would bring after all.

The next morning Jiraiya, Naruto and I left the village at the crack of dawn. I had left Sasuke in charge of my apartment and was confident that I would still have a place to live in when I returned.

I knew we were heading for a small town on the very edge of fire country and I knew that with Jiraiya as company, the trip would take at least twice as long as it had to.

In fact, we were only a few hours away from Konoha and were already stopping for the night. Naruto was trying to convince Jiraiya to teach him a new technique and was actually having some success.

"Fine I´ll teach you, do you know your affinity?" Jiraiya asked and Naruto nodded eagerly.

"Yeah I do, I´m a wind user! Believe it!"

"Really? Then you should be able to learn the Rasengan…" Jiraiya said out loud, thinking hard on something.

"You know the Rasengan?" I asked Jiraiya. "I thought your affinity´s were fire and earth?" He looked at me with surprise and answered.

"Yeah I know it, but it´s the only wind technique I can. My affinity´s are fire and earth yes but how did you know that?" I shrugged my shoulders and answered simply.

"Kasumii."

"Hmm, and what are your affinity´s if I might ask? Perhaps I can teach you something as well." Jiraiya said slowly. I shook my head and said.

"I doubt that, I´m a water, lightning and wind user." Jiraiya´s shocked expression made me smile a little and then he asked.

"You´ve mastered three elements?"

"I wouldn´t say that I have mastered the wind element but I am proficient controlling it. I´m actually thinking about trying to learn a few basic fire techniques as well…"

"Then I´ll teach you the Rasengan and Fire release: Great fireball technique." Jiraiya said but once again I shook my head.

"I would be thankful if you´d teach me the fire technique, but I already know the Rasengan." I explained and made a small Rasengan in the palm of my hand to prove it.

"When did you learn that? And how? That´s a technique invented by the fourth Hokage himself." Jiraiya said in awe and I quickly explained it so that we could get some work done since we clearly weren´t traveling any further today.

"I learned it on my own right before I was promoted to jounin. I read about it and tried to recreate it, and I simply kept trying until I got it right." I said with a shrug before leaving the two males in the small clearing and went to search for water and firewood.

As we traveled, we fell into a routine. We always stopped a few hours before it got dark and that´s when Jiraiya taught me the fireball technique and both Jiraiya and I helped Naruto to learn the Rasengan.

If we were close to a town, Jiraiya usually disappeared during the night to make some 'research' for his books. He only tried doing that to me one time since I paralyzed his body with senbon needles and then summoned my ghosts so that they could use him for target practice.

And my ghosts are very protective over me.

But then we finally reached the town that Tsunade was rumored to be in and surprise, surprise, the town was full of casino´s. So Jiraiya and Naruto went in one direction and I in another, deciding to meet back at the hotel by midnight.

I walked slowly down the busy street and used my eyes to search for Tsunade while making it look like I was simply sight-seeing. I looked to be old enough to visit the casino´s thankfully, despite the fact that I had another two years before I really was allowed.

"Perhaps we should go back to the hotel now Tsunade-sama? And stop when we actually have a small profit." I heard a timid yet strong voice say inside one of the casino´s.

"Nonsense Shizune, we can make a much bigger profit if we play just a little more." Another voice answered, this one strong and powerful but clearly drunk.

I smiled; I had found her without putting any energy in it, now only the tricky part was left. To convince her to take the position as Hokage.

I entered the casino they were in, the bouncers accepting my presence with a respectful nod of their heads. They recognized that I was a ninja and wasn´t going to give me any trouble as long as I did the same for them.

I scanned the inside of the establishment. The interior was a lot of dark wood, red and gold and as in most of these places, the light was rather poor. There were a few booths and tables as well as a bar and different kinds of gambling stations.

There was roulette, different kinds of card games as well as a few slot machines. There wasn´t many people in here but that might be because it was still too early for most people.

Only drunks and gambling addicts were in here during this time of the day.

I found my target at the poker table along with another woman. Tsunade was shorter than me and waaay bustier. She was dressed in simple tan pants and a green haori on top of a kimono styled shirt. Her eyes were a warm golden, brown and her hair was a dark blonde kept in two low, loose pigtails.

She also had a diamond-shaped purple mark in the middle of her forehead. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties but I knew that she and Jiraiya were about the same age, around 50.

The other woman, named Shizune, was about my height and dressed in dark blue clothes. Her short hair was pitch black, as was her eyes. And she was carrying a pet pig. She seemed to be in her late twenties, like Kurenai or Asuma.

I took a seat at their table and laid some money on it to join in on the game. I figured that things would go a lot better if I didn't introduce myself and told her our mission until she actually might be inclined to listen on me.

We played a few rounds without me saying a single word, I did win however and soon I had won almost all of her money. And then she was the one to start up a conversation with me.

"You sure know how to play girl… what´s your name?" I turned towards her while still concentrating on the game in front of me as I answered.

"Michi."

"No last name?"

"I have one yes but I haven´t used it since my brother left me when I was young." We played two more games in silence before she asked the next question.

"I haven´t seen you before, are you from around here?" I shook my head no.

"No I arrived here this afternoon, I´m from Konoha." I said and unzipped my cloak so that she could see the headband that was tied tightly around my neck.

"Oh really? Can it be that you´re here looking for Jiraiya? I think I saw him earlier with a blonde kid." She asked playing dumb. I locked my gaze on hers and said in a serious tone.

"You know very well that I´m here for you; we need you back in Konoha."

"Then you also know that I can´t go back there." She countered.

"We´ll see about that, could you agree to meet with Jiraiya and Naruto at least? Hear what we have to say?" She thought about it for a while before slumping in her seat.

"Sure, I can do that." She said and I gave her a smile that showed off my sharp teeth before leading the way back towards the hotel.

"I can understand that you don´t want to use your last name because of your brother but are you related to the Hõzuki clan or the Hoshigaki clan in Kirigakure by any chance? They are the only ones I know of with those sharp teeth…" She asked me after a little while and I only nodded.

"I am. I originate from Kiri but I left them and the third allowed me to become a jounin of Konoha to give me another chance." I said before holding the door open for her and Shizune to enter through. Jiraiya and Naruto were sitting at a table eating and Shizune started walking in their direction but Tsunade stopped for a moment.

"How come he allowed that? It´s highly unusual for missing nins to be accepted into other villages, he must´ve had a reason." She said and I nodded.

"I had to leave when they gave me a mission I refused to complete, I don´t kill children just because their parents have a kekke genkai. I managed to get to Konoha despite the hunter nins on my heels and got saved by Kakashi and Genma right outside the village gate. They took me too the third and after hearing my story he made me a Konoha ninja to protect me from the execution that waited for me back in Kiri."

With that said I walked up the stairs to my room and Tsunade went over to Naruto and the others. I could feel their eyes resting on my back as I climbed the stairs but I didn´t have any energy left to argue with Tsunade and Shizune.

They probably didn´t need my help anyway since Naruto was there so I locked myself in my room and lay down on my back on the bed. I closed my eyes for a second and without noticing it, I fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up the moment someone pushed down the door handle to my door and it took me only a tenth of a second to be pressed against the wall next to the slowly opening door.

Long blonde hair and a green haori greeted my vision and I relaxed even if I still had my guard up. It was only Tsunade, but what was she doing here in the middle of the night?

She took a step inside my room and I could see her scanning it, probably in a search for me.

"What are you doing here Tsunade?" I asked her warily as I pushed the door closed once again. She spun around and when she saw me her eyes widened, she clearly hadn´t expecting me to notice her when she sneaked into my room.

My eyes then fell on a small vial in her hand and I was instantly eying her like she was an enemy. For all I knew the liquid in that vial could be a poison strong enough to kill.

"What were you planning on doing with that?!" I asked her angrily and gestured towards the vial that she clutched in her hand. She accepted my suspicion and anger without arguing with me, but she told me that the liquid in the vial was a sleeping draught designed to make me sleep for twelve hours straight.

She gave me the vial and I sniffed it´s content, it did hold the slight sweetness that was associated with sleeping and paralyzing draughts and it convinced me that she was telling the truth.

And suddenly I realized what she was planning.

"You have already given this to Jiraiya, Naruto and Shizune haven´t you?" I asked her. "You´re planning on going after Orochimaru yourself because of what he did to the third."

When she froze I knew I had gotten it right and I also realized that I only had two options of which course of action to take.

One, I allowed her to go after Orochimaru on her own and following her when the others woke up. Hoping that she had survived the encounter.

Or two, I left the others a note and went with her, increasing her chances of survival until the others could reach us.

I went with option number two.

"Then I´m coming with you." I told her and quickly gathered my belongings back in the backpack while at the same time keeping an eye on her so she didn´t try anything stupid.

"What?" She asked me, surprised and more than a little disbelieving.

"I´m going with you. That way, the chances that you survive this are much higher. You would go even if I tried to get you to stay so it´s better that I go with you." I explained.

"And what about the others?" She asked.

"They´ll probably come after us to try and stop us once they wake up so let´s get going, we need the head start."

Tsunade still looked a little suspicious but still allowed me to tag along; perhaps she realized that she wasn´t going to get rid of me. We disappeared into the night without a trace but a clone of mine was left behind to watch over the others and to deliver the news that we were gone and where we had gone to.

I could only hope that I was making the right decision.

* * *

After traveling for two days, Tsunade and I had become somewhat friends. She knew what had happened to me and the village since my arrival there and I could tell she was impressed by my actions and by my loyalty to my friends.

We had reached a giant open field with luscious green grass and colorful flowers of all kind. We were slowly crossing it when something put me on edge and I stopped, my body tense and my mind alert and searching for dangers.

I was just about to warn Tsunade when two people appeared in front of us. The one with long black hair and pale skin I immediately recognized as Orochimaru. His grey haired, glass wearing companion was a little harder to place but I remembered his name being Kabuto and that he was a medical ninja.

Tsunade started to yell at Orochimaru and I tuned their voices out to be able to concentrate on any movements made by the enemy. Kabuto was doing the same thing and the way he looked at Tsunade put me on edge, I could tell he was planning something.

Tsunade looked away for a second, giving him the opening he had been looking for and he shot into action a second before me. He was headed straight for Tsunade, a kunai poised to penetrate her heart. Tsunade looked back in time to see him coming but too late to defend herself.

The kunai pierced through flesh and blood splattered on her face.

I stood in front of her frozen body and gritted my teeth against the pain of having my shoulder impaled by a kunai. The sight of my bright red blood seemed to paralyze her and I remembered that she was hemophobic, afraid of blood.

I put my hands in the proper seals and allowing my body to fall to my knees; I put my hands against the ground and whispered.

_"Summoning style: Ghosts of the pasts."_

The five of them appeared in a protective circle around us and when Asa saw my prediction he immediately went to me, pulling the kunai out and healing me while I was giving out orders to the others.

"Kasumii I need you to locate Jiraiya, Naruto and Shizune and lead them here. Anda, Bishamon, Chiko, you guys need to keep Orochimaru busy while I take care of his subordinate Kabuto. Asa as soon as you´re done with me I need you to protect Tsunade." They all nodded their understanding and proceeded with their assignments.

As soon as Asa´s hands lifted from my body I was running towards Kabuto while putting my hands in the correct seals for my newest jutsu.

"Fire style: Great fireball technique!"

I inhaled deeply and then blew out a massive fire ball in Kabuto´s direction. I saw his eyes widen as he hurried through the hand seals for an earth technique.

The fireball hit but when the white hot flames disappeared an earth wall was revealed. The wall crumbled down and then Kabuto was running towards me, chakra scalpels forming in his hands.

I quickly unsealed my katana and took a defensive stance. Our weapons clashed again and again as the two of us fought for dominance. It was tiring as hell to fight him like this but I didn´t have a choice, he was too close for me to be able to use ninjutsu and Anda, Bishamon and Chiko had more than enough to do with Orochimaru.

Asa had to stay with Tsunade because the moment he moved from her side she was going to be attacked and Kasumii didn´t have the means to fight.

I simply had to hold out against him until the others got here.

And then I made a mistake, I left my right side wide open for an attack and Kabuto didn´t hesitate for even a second before taking it. The chakra scalpel of his went straight through my thigh, leaving the skin and blood vessels intact but cutting through the muscle, making my leg useless.

I fell to the ground with a grunt of pain but still managed to raise my katana in front of me, protecting my body from more attacks. But since I was on the ground I was at disadvantage, I had to work even harder to deflect his attacks and soon my arms felt numb from the overuse I was putting them through.

Suddenly my katana was ripped from my grip and thrown to the side and almost before I had comprehended what was happening, Kabuto´s chakra scalpel was pressed against my throat.

I saw the victory in his eyes and closed my own, if I was going to die I didn´t want to see it happen.

But then a war cry resonated through the air and someone flew over my head and collided with Kabuto´s body, effectively pushing him off and away from me.

I opened my eyes and saw the blinding orange of Naruto's clothes a few feet away. He was standing protectively in front of me and was yelling some stuff at Kabuto.

I looked around and saw that Jiraiya and Shizune also had arrived, Jiraiya joining my summons in the battle against Orochimaru while Shizune talked to Tsunade in a stressed tone.

Suddenly I was picked up from the ground by Kasumii; she took me to where Tsunade and Shizune were and put me down carefully so that I was sitting on the ground, mindful of the surprisingly strong pain coming from my severed muscles.

"Kasumii tell Anda to go and aid Naruto, Bishamon and Chiko should be enough help for Jiraiya." I told her and she nodded and disappeared. I turned towards Asa who looked ready to abandon his protective position in front of the three of us and rush over here to heal me.

"Stay were you are Asa, I can´t protect myself right now so I need your protection more than I need your healing." I ordered him and he nodded his head once and turned his attention back to the fights in front of him.

"Do you require healing Michi-san?" Shizune asked me while eyeing the large amount of blood that showed on my navy blue shirt.

"I do but not because of the blood, my shoulder was impaled by a kunai but Asa has already healed that injury. My thigh muscles in my right leg have been severed though." I told her through gritted teeth and just as she was about to move over and start healing me, Tsunade snapped out of her paralyzed state and said.

"No save your chakra Shizune, you must´ve have traveled fast to catch up to us, I´ll heal her."

She moved into position and let her hands hover over my thigh, a calming green light surrounding them. The healing chakra felt cold but in a good way as she forced my muscles back into their correct positions and made them knit together again. She looked up into my eyes and said quietly, so the others wouldn´t hear.

"Thank you Michi, for saving me. When we are done here I´ll come back to the village with you, I promise." I gave her a pained smile and told her.

"I´ll hold you to that promise."

And then I passed out from pain and sheer exhaustion.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again it was dark and only the faint light from a small fire illuminated the clearing we were in. I sat up slowly and stretched out my body, I was a little stiff from sleeping on the ground but felt no pain in my earlier injured limbs.

There was people sleeping all around the clearing and I made a quick check to see that everyone that should be here was here. Jiraiya… Naruto… Shizune… But where was Tsunade?

"Hey kid you´re awake, how are you feeling?" Tsunade´s voice reached me before she did as she dropped down in front of me in the next moment. Apparently she had been in the tree above me, watching over us as we slept.

"I´m good, just a little stiff." I told her and sat up straighter as she took a seat next to me. I was starving so I pulled an energy bar from my backpack and started munching on it. Everything was silent except from the small crackling sound from the fire and Naruto's soft snores.

"You know, after I get named Hokage I could force you to tell me your last name if I wanted too…" She said after a little while and I immediately understood where this conversation was going, she wasn´t stupid and neither was I.

The surprising part was that I didn´t actually mind. I felt that I could trust her not to judge me simply by my name, I also had a feeling that if one was willing to talk to her then she was willing to listen.

"My name is Michi Hoshigaki…" I told her in a voice that was no stronger than a whisper. Saying my last name made my thoughts go to my brother and that was both painful and saddening.

"Ahh…" She sighed. "Is Kisame your brother then by any chance?"

I simply nodded and unconsciously fisted my shirt right above my heart as if I could ease the pain a little by doing so. My action wasn´t unnoticed by Tsunade and she said.

"I know it probably doesn´t help much but he will always be your brother, he will always be with you no matter what he does." She said but I actually drew a small amount of comfort from that because it meant that no matter what he did, he was still my brother.

And I might be both angry at him and sad because of him but he was still my brother and I loved him.

"I haven´t told anybody my last name or about my brother, they only know I have one." I told her and she nodded her head.

"It´s fine, I won´t tell anybody. Do you think that he´ll come for you?"

"He might." I answered with a shrug. "But since he´s with the Akatsuki I´m not sure if he´s allowed to do that. He won´t come for me unless he´s absolutely sure that I´ll be safe with him, that´s for sure."

I looked up at Tsunade´s thoughtful face and asked her. "Promise me that if he comes for me and brings me to the Akatsuki, you won´t send anyone after me. I don´t want any of you to risk your lives when I´ll be safe with my brother."

She held my stare before nodding once in acceptance and saying.

"On the condition that I can tell them about your last name and who your brother is should that happen."

I allowed that and then let out a tired sight before admitting.

"I know that the Akatsuki are after the jinchuriki´s but there´s something about that organization that doesn´t feel right to me… I don´t believe that they are truly evil. My brother would never have joined them if they didn´t have a bigger goal…"

Tsunade looked at me with her eyebrows drawn tight before they eased up and her expression was changed to a thoughtful one.

"I do believe that you might be right Michi… I wonder why nobody´s figured that out before…"

"I don´t think the way other people does." I answered with another shrug. "I never have."

She gave me another thoughtful look before asking me.

"If your brother comes for you and brings you to the Akatsuki, will you try and find out their true purpose? See if they might be willing to enter an alliance with Konoha?"

My head snapped up in shock, had she really asked me what I thought she did? One look at her gentle smile made me realize that I had heard her right and I felt tears gather in my eyes.

That meant that I had a chance to save my brother from an otherwise guaranteed death.

Tsunade pulled me in for a motherly hug when the tears fell from my eyes and I could tell that she knew how much my brother meant to me despite everything he had done.

"I don´t believe that all of Akatsuki´s members are truly evil, most of them probably just didn´t have anywhere else to go. Just like you before you came to Konoha." She told me quietly and when she didn´t show any sign of letting me go, I made myself comfortable and drifted off to sleep in the comfort of a mothers embrace.

A feeling I had long since forgotten.

* * *

Let me know what you think!

**Question: You have trouble with your homework, which akatsuki member would you rather get help from?**

I think that Kakuzu would be a great help, but he´ll probably make me pay him for it. Itachi would probably be good at it as well because he can stay calm even if i get upset and frustrated. Even Pein would probably be good at it.

Love C


	11. Chapter 11 - Losing Sasuke?

I do not own Naruto, only Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 11 – Losing Sasuke?_

* * *

I dedicate this chapter to Kiara97

* * *

When we returned to the village Tsunade and Shizune went directly to the hospital to attempt operating to fix Rock Lee´s spine that was still injured from his fight against Gaara in the chuunin exams.

Jiraiya went directly to the elders to start the process of making Tsunade the fifth Hokage and Naruto went to find Sasuke and Sakura to go and grab some ramen and show them his newest jutsu.

I went straight for my apartment, I was curious to see how many people that were still staying with me and I was in a dire need of a shower.

My apartment was just as I had left it and since no one was home I judged by the amount of stuff that I was only housing two people now. I dumped my backpack on the middle of the living room floor and went straight for the shower.

The hot water felt heavenly against my body and I sighed contently, tilting my head back. I hadn´t bothered locking the door and wasn´t entirely surprised when someone knocked on it.

"Michi is that you?" I heard Kakashi's voice call out.

"Yup I just got back." I yelled back.

"Can I come in? I need to talk to you and I need to be somewhere else in like twenty minutes. I won´t look, I promise." He asked.

"Sure come on in."

I heard the door open and then a thud as Kakashi's weight hit the floor. I peeked out from behind the shower curtain and saw him sitting on the floor with his back against the door, his visible eye shut tightly.

I smiled at seeing that, it was very gentlemanly of him and not to mention more than a little cute.

"There´s no need for you to have your eyes closed you know. It´s not like you haven´t seen it all before." His eye slowly opened and before he could stop himself it ran over my body before focusing on my face.

"Sorry…" He mumbled and blushed hard enough to make it show over the top of his mask. I giggled and told him.

"You don´t have to apologize Kakashi, I´m not offended. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Sasuke. I´m worried about him, he´s getting angrier and has started lashing out at both me and his teammates. I also believe that some of Orochimaru´s subordinates might have approached him with the offer of him joining them… I´m scared that he might actually accept that offer…" Kakashi said somberly and I could hear the pain in his voice.

Sasuke was slowly slipping further and further away from us and he realized that as well.

"I´ll go and see him tonight, see if I can get him to talk to me." I offered and Kakashi nodded gratefully.

"Genma is out on a mission and is said to come back either late tonight or very early tomorrow, I will also be out all night so don´t worry if you find yourself alone tonight." Kakashi said before he stood up and left again.

I washed my hair and body before exiting the shower, wrapping myself in a towel and leaving the bathroom entirely. I almost screamed when I saw someone sitting on my couch.

Thankfully I recognized the black duck-butt styled hair and the dark clothes and realized that it was only Sasuke before I screamed.

"Sasuke you scared me half to death… Is everything alright?"

Sasuke nodded his head yes before changing his mind and shaking it no.

"I don´t know… I wanted to talk to someone and your name was the first that popped up in my mind…" He said and looked at me for the first time. He didn´t react much to see me dressed in only a towel, he only gave me a once over and said.

"If you have the time to listen to me I can make us some tea and snacks while you get dressed." He offered and I gave him a smile and said.

"Sounds great, I´ll be right back. I always have time for my friends."

I dressed quickly and brushed my hair, leaving it to dry on its own before going back to the living room where Sasuke once again sat on the couch, this time with tea and a few sandwiches on the table next to him.

I sat down next to him and accepted the cup of tea that he handed me, taking a sip before asking him.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"The cursed seal…" Sasuke muttered uncomfortably and shifted in his seat. "It´s harder to control than I first believed…" He admitted and I nodded slowly.

"Kakashi told me that you seemed to have some problems, he said that you had seemed angrier than normal lately. He also mentioned that some of Orochimaru´s subordinates might have given you the offer of coming with them? He seemed really worried about you…"

Sasuke shifted away from me and said quietly.

"He shouldn´t worry about me, none of you should, I´m not worth it." I could hear regret and sadness in his voice, along with a great amount of determination.

"We will anyway, because that´s what friends do, they worry about each other." I told him but I had a feeling that he had decided what to do even before coming here, I didn´t think there was something I could say or do to change his mind at this point…

The stubborn set of his jaw along with the unusual shine in his eyes made me realize something.

"Oh sweet Kami Sasuke, you have already decided to go to Orochimaru have you not?" His head snapped in my direction but he didn´t say anything, he didn´t need to.

"I have." He admitted after a while. "And there´s nothing you can do to make me change my mind."

"I already figured that out… but why Sasuke?" I asked him, desperate to understand. He sighed and seemed to deflate a little as he brokenly told me his reasoning.

"It´s not like I want to go… But I can´t stay here without being able to control the curse, I lash out the others verbally already and I don´t want to risk attacking them physically as well… I need the control he can teach me as well as the knowledge about my brother I need to defeat him."

He turned his gaze away and I saw that tears had pooled in his eyes, threatening to spill down his cheeks. I had to bite down hard on my own lower lip to keep my own tears at bay as I pulled him against me in a hug that he accepted with a small, almost invisible sob.

"Shh Sasuke it´ll be alright, we can figure this out…"

"No we can´t." He interrupted me. "I have to leave, there´s no other choice." I tightened my arms around him and said quietly.

"And if I don´t let you?"

"You´ll have no choice, I drugged your tea."

"You… what?" I asked him, shocked and a little scared by that revelation.

"It´s nothing dangerous, just a little something to paralyze you for a few hours, giving me enough time to get away." He reassured me and pushed a strand of hair away from my face. "You should start to feel the effects about now."

And now that he mentioned it, I realized that I couldn´t feel my legs anymore.

He rose from his seat on the couch and crouched down in front of me, cupping my face gently in his hands and saying.

"I´ll come back again Michi-chan, I promise. Please forgive me." He pressed a kiss against my forehead and then he was gone.

He had left us.

* * *

I was forced to stay on the couch in the quickly darkening apartment, silent tears streaming from my eyes. I had failed him, I hadn´t been able to help him and now he was gone…

I had failed Kakashi who had trusted me to talk some sense into him; I had failed Sakura and Naruto since they had lost a teammate and a friend because of my incompetence.

I wanted nothing more than to chase after him and forcing him to come back home but I was stuck where I was until Genma or Kakashi came home or until the drug wore off.

I guess I just had to wait.

* * *

Around four am the paralyzing drug started to wear off and when Genma arrived an hour later, tired and dirty from his mission it was just my legs that hadn´t come back to life again but they were tingling which I had learnt was a good sign.

"Hi Michi what are you doing up at this hour?" He asked but then he caught sight of my red-rimmed eyes and the dried tear tracks on my cheeks and immediately became worried.

"Did something happen Michi? Why did you cry?"

"He left." I whispered and held my gaze focused on the floor. "He drugged me so that I wasn´t able to go after him and then he left…"

"Wait a second Michi, you were drugged? By who?"

"Sasuke… He gave me a drug that paralyzed me so that I couldn´t stop him from leaving…" I explained, feeling kind of detached from the nightmarish reality I was in.

"Shit! When did he leave Michi?"

"Around seven pm…" Genma nodded once and then disappeared, probably to the Hokage´s tower to report Sasuke as missing. I itched to be able to move so that I could chase after him but I had to wait for a little longer. My legs were still numb and unresponsive from the knee down.

Suddenly Kakashi came rushing in, looking frantic until he laid his eyes on me. He was in front of me in another burst of speed and without a word scooped me up and left the apartment again in the same hurried speed he had arrived.

"Kakashi what are you doing?" I asked him, surprised as hell by his unusual behavior and also a little worried. Had something else happened?

"I met Genma, he told me what had happened and that you had been drugged. So I´m taking you to Tsunade so she can check you over." He tried to sound calm and collected but I could hear that he was just as upset about Sasuke leaving as I was.

If anything he was even more upset than I was.

But then I realized why he was so frantic. When Genma told him that I had been drugged he must´ve panicked, believing that it was poison rather than a paralyzer that had been given to me.

I tried to tell him that there was no rush, that I was fine but it was of no use. He was too stressed to truly hear what I was telling him. He burst into the Hokage´s office without knocking, thankfully only Genma and Tsunade was here, otherwise I would have been completely and utterly embarrassed.

I was blushing as it was and refused to look at anyone as Kakashi talked to Tsunade in a stressed tone. She exchanged a few more words with both him and Genma before dismissing them both, telling them that she needed to talk to me in private and that they should get some of the Konoha 12 to go after him in the meantime.

Kakashi put me down on the couch in the office before following Genma out the door, he threw several worried glances at me over his shoulder on the way though. When the door finally shut behind them I let out a sigh of relief and I could hear Tsunade do the same.

"Sorry for that… There´s nothing wrong with me, Sasuke gave me a paralyzer to keep me from following him but the drug has almost worn off by now." I told her with my head bowed.

"Don´t worry about it." She told me and took a seat next to me instead for her chair behind the desk. "Will you let me check you over anyway though? That way maybe Kakashi will calm down when he returns."

I gave her my permission and then the green chakra once again entered my body. It didn´t keep us from talking though.

"Soo… Want to tell me your side of the story?" She inquired and I told her.

"Sasuke showed up at my apartment, wanting to talk to someone. I had just exited the shower and had yet to dress so while I did that he made us some tea and sandwiches. He told me about how hard it was to control the curse and how even he had noticed his increasing anger and verbal out lashes. He said that he had to leave to gain control over the curse and to gather information on his brother, he was afraid of attacking the other physically… He was scared and sad, he cried when I tried to get him to change his mind, I… I couldn´t help him… He promised me that he´d come back though, and he begged me for forgiveness…"

When I stopped talking both of us had tears in our eyes and the room filled with a somber silence. We both realized the seriousness in the situation so there wasn´t much to say really.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Kakashi reentered, thankfully looking a little calmer than earlier. Before he had the time to ask, Tsunade told him.

"I checked her over and she will be back to normal as soon as the last of the paralysis disappears, there should be no side effects. How did it go with the kids?" Relief eased his tense posture and he answered her.

"They´re upset, as is understandable. Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, Tenten, Kiba and Akamaru, Anko, Asuma and Genma are following his tracks in the hopes of getting him back."

Tsunade nodded and praised his decision to stay behind and then asked about how Sakura was doing.

"She is with Ino and Hinata; they will look after her for now."

"That´s good… I suggest that the two of you go home and get some sleep, there´s nothing more you can do at the moment and since you´ve been up all night you need the rest. We don´t know what the rest of this day will bring."

And with that Kakashi once again picked me up and took off, despite my protest that I could walk by myself now."

The village was just starting to wake up as he took us from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of my home, if it hadn´t been for Sasuke missing and all the others looking for him this view had been absolutely stunning.

As it was now, it seemed rather bland despite the heart stopping beauty of all the colors painting the sky.

When we reached the apartment Kakashi took us directly to my bedroom and put me down on the bed. I was too exhausted to change or brush my teeth so I only kicked off my pants before sliding underneath the covers, Kakashi joining me a few minutes later.

I curled up on my side, facing away from him and saying.

"I´m sorry Kakashi… I failed you." I felt him stiffen behind me and he turned me over with a strong but not painful grip on my shoulder so that we were facing each other.

"What do you mean Michi? You haven´t failed me in any way, you continuously surpasses my expectations." I shook my head in denial.

"No I failed you, I couldn´t stop Sasuke from leaving and I didn´t even notice that he drugged me until he told me so!" My voice rose at the end of the sentence and I suddenly realized what danger I could have been in had it been someone else who had drugged me.

No wonder Kakashi had seemed so panicked.

I felt my own panic rise, what if it had been an assassin from Kiri that had drugged my tea instead of Sasuke?

"Hey Michi calm down, you´re fine. You didn´t fail me and nobody can blame you for trusting your teammate with your food. Slow breaths." He pulled me closer and when I was cocooned in between the covers and his strong arms the panic receded.

We drew comfort from each other and eventually we fell into much needed sleep, escaping the reality for a little while longer.

* * *

Let me know what you think! Sorry it so short, I must´ve counted the pages wrong when i wrote it.

**Question: You´re having sex for the first time, who would you want it to be with?**

That´s a really tricky question for me, since I want most of the akatsuki... But for the very first time i think that Deidara, Sasori in his human body or Itachi would be a great experience. I really love Hidan but he might be a little rough and Kisame and Kakuzu are most likely bigger than most...

If i was choosing someone from Konoha, my first choice would be either Kakashi or Genma because of their experience. Naruto because of the way he cares for others or Neji because he´s hot!

Love C


	12. Chapter 12 - Revealing secrets

I do not own Naruto, only Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 12 – Revealing secrets and temporary goodbyes_

* * *

When Tsunade called to a meeting that night, it was revealed that Sasuke Uchiha had indeed left the village and successfully joined Orochimaru in Otogakure. The team chasing after him had returned injured, tired and depressed and Neji, Chouji and Kiba was still in surgery but would be alright with some time off and physical therapy.

The day after that, the ceremony that officially appointed Tsunade as Hokage took place, leaving the civilian part of the village with a feeling of happiness and hope for the future. The ninja part of the village was of course also happy and relieved to have a new Hokage but the last Uchiha´s deflection took away a bit of the joy.

It was a few days after that when Tsunade called me to her office, I had come to terms with what had expired between Sasuke and I the night he left and was mostly back to my usual self.

But I wondered what she wanted?

As I climbed the stairs to the Hokage tower, a lot of different scenarios played through my head. The most likely one being that she had a mission for me and the least likely one was that she was sending me back to Kiri or exiling me from the village.

The door to the office was open so I knocked once before entering, as soon as I did that the door was shut behind me and I automatically went into a defensive stance, the years living in Kiri making an appearance.

"Easy Michi…" Tsunade said with her hands visible, she had been the one to close the door apparently.

I relaxed my stance and looked on curiously as she put up several seals in the circular room that was her office, shutting the blinds on the many windows as she passed them.

"What I´m about to tell you needs to stay in this room, you can´t tell anyone, not even Kakashi or Genma. Do you understand?" She told me after she´d taken her seat behind the desk, her voice and face dead serious.

"I do." I told her confidently, curious to what she had to tell me. She hesitated for a second before revealing.

"I believe that there are secrets in this village that shouldn´t exist… Things that the elders and Danzo has kept a secret from the previous Hokage´s. And I… I want you to try and find out what they are. You´re the only one in this village that I feel I can trust with this…"

I was shocked to say the least. Not so much by the fact that even this peaceful village might have a few skeletons in the closet but by the fact that she chose me to investigate them.

"Why me?" I asked in a whisper.

"Because you don´t have the same ties to the village as someone born here would have. You will be able to stay focused on the goal and remain objective no matter what nightmares you might find. And also because I trust you as a person and because you are a really good spy thanks to your summon Kasumii. Will you accept this mission Michi? It will be S-ranked because of what could happen should Danzo or the elders discover you."

"I will accept this mission, and I will find out what secrets they are keeping, this I swear." I promised her and bowed formally in front of her desk.

This could be exciting.

* * *

As soon as I got back to the apartment I summoned Kasumii and asked her to try and find out as much as she could about Danzo and his root division as I planned my excursion to the secret archives the very same night.

When I got to the point that I was collecting tools and other things I might need on the bed for later Kakashi and Genma returned home and I suddenly remembered that I hadn´t come up with a cover story yet.

And since both of them were immediately drawn to my bedroom due to the noise I was making, I had to come up with a story in like three seconds. They halted their movements when they noticed what I was doing and Genma asked curiously.

"You´re going on a mission?" I decided to stay as close to the truth as possible without revealing too much so I answered.

"Yes, an information gathering mission. Shouldn´t be too long though, a few days' tops." I answered lightly while pulling my backpack from the closet.

"You´re going with a team?" Kakashi asked while inspecting my kunai.

"No, I´m going by myself."

"Then what rank is it? Everything above C-rank requires at least a two man team according to the Hokage´s rules." Kakashi pointed out.

"It´s an S-rank but…" I got no longer before Genma interrupted me and loudly demanded to know.

"You´re going alone on an S-ranked mission?! Has the Hokage lost her mind?!"

"It´s very… special, circumstances with this mission that makes it impossible for me to take a team. I have to do it on my own but don´t worry guys I´ll be fine, I promise." They argued with me for a bit longer before I had to forcibly push them from the room so that I could finish packing and be ready to get going on time.

I threw all of my weapons, tools and other needed things in the backpack along with some clothes and food rations. I then changed my clothes so that I was wearing dark brown and green colors, making it easier for me to blend in in the forest.

I exited the room and joined the boys for a quick but filling meal before I had to go. I could feel their eyes resting on me until I disappeared from sight.

* * *

A few hours later, in the last light of the sinking sun I had made camp in a hidden cave a few miles from the village. I was just preparing to go back to the village and sneak in to the secret archives, having already put a henge over my body.

Instead of my normal tall, rather curvy body I now had one that was just a hint taller but almost no curves whatsoever. My hair was in a short bob and black as night and my eyes was a common brown.

I had dressed myself in a black jumpsuit, much like the ones that Rock Lee and Gai was infamous for wearing, only mine was a solid black and had a hood. I had also donned a facemask like the ones Kakashi always wore to hide my pointed teeth since I refused to put a henge over those, the mask was also black.

When I was satisfied that no one could recognize me by sight I set my course on the village. The tricky part now was to get into the archives without being discovered; the fact that I would have to hide my chakra signature the whole time only increased the difficulty of this mission.

A smile etched onto my face, this was going to be fun.

* * *

When I returned to the village through the gates five days later I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. I had found the secrets Tsunade was worried about, and the knowledge of what this village had done to its own inhabitants left me feeling both sick and depressed.

I knew I had to go home and get some rest but instead I found myself unable to find the energy to keep moving and allowed my feet to come to a stop. My eyes found the third Hokage´s face on the side of the mountain, looking for answers that he was unable to give.

"Michi?" A questioning voice asked from behind me and I turned around slowly. Genma actually flinched at the look in my eyes and said.

"Kami what happened Michi?" I didn´t answer that and he didn´t really expect me to either. Instead he took me home, fed me and put me to bed.

Just what I needed at the time.

* * *

The next morning I went to the Hokage´s office to report my finding when I met Sakura coming down the stairs as I went up them.

"Hey Michi, are you going to see the Hokage?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah I need to give her my mission report… How are you doing?"

"I´m… better. Tsunade-sama has agreed to train me as her apprentice!" She told me excitedly.

"That´s great Sakura! Don´t forget to visit Kakashi every now and then though, I think he´ll need it." She promised me that she would do that and then continued on her way.

I quickly made my way up the rest of the stairs and knocked on Tsunade´s door. She looked up from the paperwork on her desk when I entered and immediately sprang up and put up all the seals so that we could talk in private again.

"How did it go?" She asked me apprehensively and took her seat behind the desk.

"The mission was a success." I told her and she deflated a little but gestured to me to continue with the report.

"The root division that Danzo rules are doing much more than what they should, they obey his every order and about half of those are his private ones. They perform assassinations and other shunned missions. I also know what he hides under his clothes and bandages; the space on his right arm is filled with sharingan eyes from the Uchiha massacre. I also found out the truth about the Uchiha massacre, Itachi was ordered to kill his clan to prevent a coup d'état. The deal was that if he killed everyone his name would be cleared but since he didn´t kill Sasuke the deal was called off and he was exiled from the village and named a missing nin." I meet Tsunade´s horrified gaze and told her.

"Itachi was only following orders, he didn´t do anything wrong. He sacrificed almost everything he had for this fucked up village. On top of that, the members of root have a seal placed on their tongues to prevent them from talking about root business. It is my belief that Danzo and the elders immediately should be relieved from their positions and put in prison for their sins." Tsunade´s hard gaze met my own and she nodded before saying.

"I agree that they cannot be allowed to continue this madness, but is prison really what you would recommend?" I eyed her curiously and a little suspiciously before asking.

"Permission to speak freely?"

"Permission granted."

"If it were my decision I would have the elders put in prison yes, they won't last long there with their age… Danzo however, I would have executed… and I would have done it Kiri style." I told her bluntly and expected her to flinch back from my suggestion.

She didn´t however and instead told me. "I like that sentence better, if I have Danzo put in one of the maximum security cells in the ANBU headquarters, will you be able to get in and out without being noticed?"

"I will." I nodded confidently.

"Then will you do the honors? I trust you to make it nice and… painful…" She said with a wicked, evil grin on her face.

My own lips twisted up in a grimace that showed the monster inside of me and I answered. "It would be my pleasure."

* * *

I left my apartment in the shelter of darkness that same night, heading for the ANBU headquarters.

The two elders and Danzo had been arrested and the elders were already spending their first night in jail. My report had contained extensive evidence and no trial had been deemed necessary. Danzo was most likely well-guarded just in case an attempt like this was going to happen but I had thought of ways around that.

I had made a flash bomb, designed to knock out the enemy and leave them unconscious and by adding a special herb to the mix, it would give them the illusion that nothing had happened.

It was genius and perfect for the situation.

Tsunade had revealed the crimes for the villagers so everybody knew what had been going on, all except for the truth about Itachi and the Uchiha massacre.

But she had her reasons for that.

We had talked about it and realized that we could put Itachi in danger by revealing the truth. It was decided that we´d tell the most trusted jounin's and ANBU the truth though, as well as Sasuke when he returned.

If Itachi should return to the village the truth would be told of course, and in the event that Kisame came for me and brought me to the Akatsuki, I was allowed to use the information I had gathered on this mission to get them to accept an alliance with us.

But back to the present, I was dressed in the same outfit as during my earlier 'infiltrations' of the village, just in case someone saw me and remembered it.

It was surprisingly easy to sneak into the ANBU headquarters and I almost suspected that they wanted someone like me to succeed. The ground floors were completely empty and the lower floors had a minimal amount of patrolling guards.

I reached Danzo´s cell without any trouble and summoned Kasumii to keep guard for me as I unlocked the door with the key that I had taken from one of the guards.

Danzo was chained to a chair for me, how convenient.

He looked up as I entered and understanding immediately lit a faint light behind them, he realized that he was going to die tonight and desperation filled his entire being, giving the air a bitter scent.

His fear of death only fueled the monster within me.

I let the henge drop so that he was greeted by my own frame and colors. His eyes widened in surprise and he choked out.

"You… This is your doing… But how?"

"It is." I confirmed before getting to work. I planned on giving him a painful death, but a quick one. Otherwise I might get lost in the moment and get discovered when the guards changed shift.

I pulled out a kunai that I had sharpened way beyond what was recommended. If I tried to throw this one it would simply break but it was perfect for what I had in mind.

I put the knife to his skin and started skinning him alive, relishing in the screams he let out. But I didn´t let him die from it. No I was really careful not to cut any major blood vessels, I wasn´t done yet, he hadn´t suffered enough.

When all of his skin was spread out throughout the room I stopped and put the knife away. Instead I pulled out a length of ninja wire, wrapping it tightly around his entire body. His screams still echoed through the room and they egged me on as I tightened the wire more and more until it was lodged in his bones.

Then I left him to bleed out.

Later when I was in the bathroom, trying to wash the blood of my hands and face, Kakashi and Genma entered without knocking. They must´ve heard the water running and came to check it out.

I was caught like a deer in headlights and was frozen in fear as they only stared at me, before they closed and locked the door behind them, asking me.

"What. Have. You. Done."

I squirmed uncomfortably at the intensity of their gazes but realized that I had to tell them the truth. I only hoped that Tsunade would understand.

"Nothing that wasn´t necessary." I finally answered, still unsure about how much I would have to tell them. Luckily for me, both of them had been among the people to get the full truth about what had transpired. The only thing they didn´t know was that it was I who had found the information since that had been kept a secret.

"Why are you covered in blood?" Kakashi wanted to know but I could see in his eyes that he already suspected what my answer would be, Genma did as well.

"Because I have killed." I continued to answer them in short sentences, hoping to make the truth look a little prettier by doing so. They closed in on me, trapping me against the sink with their bodies and then Genma asked me.

"Who did you kill Michi?"

"Danzo…" I admitted in a terrified whisper, fearful of what their reactions would be.

I hadn´t needed to worry because their arms wrapped around me in a comforting hug, their silence enough of a reassurance for me.

* * *

The next day I was once again called to the Hokage´s office and when I arrived there we once again went through the routine of securing the room.

She leaned against the desk today and the look she gave me made me a little worried.

"Are you okay?" She asked me sincerely, surprising me.

"Of course." I answered. "Why wouldn´t I be?"

Her steely amber eyes never left me as she said. "I saw what you did to Danzo, you can honestly tell me that that doesn´t bother you?"

I shrugged. "It doesn´t, I did much worse things as a jounin of Kiri." That statement made her pale and she had to close her eyes for a moment to regain control before she said.

"If you change your mind you can always come and talk to me about it, you know that right?" I nodded my confirmation and she continued. "Have you had any thoughts about advancing to ANBU?"

I was totally surprised by her question and it took me awhile to answer her.

"I have, I don´t think I´m good enough though…" Now it was Tsunade´s turn to be surprised.

"Not good enough?! Michi you are more skilled than at least half of my ANBU force. And you´re only sixteen for Kami´s sake! If you want to become an ANBU I will promote you right now simply because of your accomplishments on these two fucked up missions. You only have to say the word."

I was stunned by her offer. She really thought I was good enough for ANBU? After a minute or two of deep thinking, I figured that she wouldn´t have offered me the promotion unless she meant it and told her.

"I would like that very much." She gave me a beaming smile and handed over a small package with the standard ANBU uniform, a blank mask that was mine to decorate as I wanted and a note with the address for the tattoo artist. She told me to show up at the headquarters Monday morning and then shooed me out of her office.

I returned home with my new gear and put it in the closet among my other things before leaving again to meet with the tattoo artist. He turned out to be a civilian, a nice and chatty one named Michael.

"Where do you want your ANBU symbol? Most prefers to have it done on their upper arm but I also do a lot of shoulder blades and other places." He said and waited patiently for my response.

I didn´t want the simple symbol on my upper arm, it was too visible there since I liked to wear tank tops and shirts with no sleeves. The shoulder blade didn´t work either since I wanted another tattoo there.

"Could you do it on the small of my back? Along the spine?" I asked him and he nodded his consent before preparing the station. When the needle made contact with my back it brought a pleasure that strangely came from pain. All too soon the tattoo was done and I could see the result in the mirror.

"Do you have time for one more tattoo?" I asked him before he cleared the station and when he nodded again I gave him a bright smile and told him that I wanted the word 'Brother' across my shoulders in big, bold letters with a vicious looking shark underneath, preferably with bloody teeth's and a piece of a human arm in its mouth.

Michael looked overjoyed to get the chance to do such a large tattoo; it would take up half my back when done. As the tattoo machine once again started to buzz, a happy smile etched itself on my face.

This was going to be a beauty.

* * *

Later that night when I was eating dinner with Kakashi and Genma the newly done tattoo´s started to bother me. I couldn´t lean back in my seat and even the shirt I wore caused unnecessary pain. I hadn´t planned on telling anyone about me making ANBU but Genma and Kakashi would soon notice that something was bothering me if they haven´t already.

I shifted once again and saw that both Genma and Kakashi followed my movements with their eyes and I prepared myself for their questions.

"Okay what´s wrong Michi? I´m done with watching you squirm in your seat." Kakashi told me sternly and held me in place with his gaze, making me squirm even more.

"My back hurts, it´s nothing…" I murmured and Genma immediately asked.

"Are your muscles tensing up again? Do you need another massage?" Genma asked and made a move to get up before I shook my head no.

"No that´s not it…It´s just that… that I got a tattoo and can´t reach to put the ointment on." I explained to them and felt a blush cover my cheeks.

"You… What?" Genma asked, clearly confused.

"I got a tattoo… or two actually." I said, moving my gaze from the wall behind them to my lap.

"And you got them on your back so now they are starting to hurt since you can´t reach to put the ointment on them." Kakashi concluded and Genma turned his gaze on him.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I have a tattoo as well you idiot." Kakashi answered him and gestured towards the exposed ANBU tattoo on his upper arm. He then turned to me and told me.

"Go and get your ointment and lie down on your bed, I´ll help you put the ointment on in a minute." I realized that there really was no other option and did as he said. When I pulled the shirt off I had to hold back a wince and I turned my back to the mirror and looked over my shoulder to see how it looked.

The design was completely and utterly beautiful and exactly what I had asked for, but it was also an irritated red and hot to the touch, meaning that I really did need that ointment.

I took my place on the bed and pulled up the blanket to cover my back until Kakashi and probably Genma as well got here. I didn´t have to wait long but it felt like forever since I was so nervous about their reactions.

I heard the door open and almost immediately after that I felt someone pull the blanket off of me, baring my two new tattoo´s for the world. I heard two sharp intakes of breath and then Genma´s shocked voice.

"Tsunade made you ANBU?" I nodded and burrowed my head deeper into my pillow.

"That´s great, now you outrank Genma." Kakashi said and I heard Genma respond with was probably a punch to the shoulder. I then heard his footsteps leave the room and then the front door open and closing.

My head shot up from its hiding place in the pillow and my wide eyes immediately locked on the open doorway which Genma had disappeared through. I then moved my eyes onto Kakashi and asked him with tears gathering in my eyes.

"Did I make him angry?" Kakashi took notice of my shining eyes and while making a point not to look at my exposed chest put a comforting hand on my shoulder and said.

"No he´s not angry. He´s most likely out and telling all your friends about your promotion as well as planning a party for you. Now lay back down so I can get this done, I have a feeling we´re going to have guests soon."

I did as I was told and then Kakashi's cool hands made contact with my overheated back. The feeling the ointment gave when spread across my tattoo´s was amazingly soothing and I felt like I could fall asleep right then and there.

But like Kakashi had foretold, not even ten minutes later it knocked on the door for the first but certainly not the last time that night.

* * *

I was down by the large red gates that only a few months ago had seemed so unreachable, never had I thought that this could have been hidden in my future.

I was waiting for Naruto to show up, he and Jiraiya was leaving for a long time so that Naruto could train and get control over the nine tailed kyubi.

Everybody was going their own ways and while it was a little sad, I knew that we would still see each other. Sakura was training with Tsunade, Naruto with Jiraiya and Sasuke was probably training with Orochimaru in this very moment.

Kakashi, Genma and I would probably be going on a lot of missions and everything would keep moving forward.

I wonder what the future will hold?

* * *

Please let me know what you think.

**Question: Which akatsuki members could you picture have a tattoo?**

My answer would be Pein, Konan, Kisame and Deidara.

Love C


	13. Chapter13-Back together and saving Gaara

I do not own Naruto, only Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 13 – Back together and saving Gaara_

* * *

"MICHI-CHAN!" I heard someone yell before a large, muscular body collided with my own. I fell to the ground with a dull thud and blinked shocked at the person sitting on top of me.

Orange and black clothes, a wide grin, happy blue eyes and wild and spiky blonde hair.

"Naruto you´re back!" I exclaimed happily and hugged him around the middle.

"I am, BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled back, just as excited as I was. I could feel Kakashi's gaze rest upon us and I just knew that he was smiling underneath that mask of his.

"Oi! Naruto! Do you have to be so loud? The entire village can hear you…" Sakura told him as she strolled up and took her place next to Kakashi, simply watching us.

"Sakura-chan! Didn´t you miss me then?" He asked and gave her his best puppy-dog face.

"Of course I did stupid." She said and a gentle smile entered her lips. "Now get off Michi and give me a hug." She demanded and Naruto eagerly complied.

When everybody had greeted Naruto, Kakashi took them to the old training ground three and made them take the bell test once again. And just like last time, I was watching them to see how they had progressed.

It was hard to decide who had developed the most during the last three years, Sakura or Naruto. Sakura had definitely improved a lot, becoming a great taijutsu fighter with her enhanced strength but I do believe that her greatest skill was as a medic-nin.

Naruto on the other hand had gained a lot of offensive jutsu´s, he had mastered the wind element and even managed to become friends with the kyubi within him. The kyubi´s name was actually Kurama and Naruto had stressed that we´d call him by that name rather than kyubi or nine tails.

I could understand that actually, who would like to be called human or girl/boy constantly instead of their given name.

The biggest change with Naruto was his behavior though, gone was the impulsive idiot who never thought things through and in his place was great strategist.

Kakashi didn´t stand a chance against those two combined.

"Great work guys! Unlike last time we did this, I don´t have anything negative to tell you." I told them with a beaming smile when they stopped fighting.

A shrill whistle from above interrupted Naruto's response to that and after exchanging a look with Kakashi I turned around and disappeared in the direction of the Hokage tower.

The whistle came from a hawk that Tsunade used to call her ANBU to her. And since she called me, I came, and left it to Kakashi to explain why.

"You called for me Tsunade." I said and bowed deeply in front of the fifth Hokage´s desk.

"I did Michi, I have a mission for you and the rest of team seven but I wanted to give you you´re debriefing in private." I looked up at hearing that, what kind of mission would require that I get my debriefing in private?

"About an hour ago we got a message from Suna, asking for our help. It seems as if their Kazekage, Gaara, have been abducted by the Akatsuki."

I felt my insides freeze up at hearing that, now I understood the need for privacy. I still hadn´t told anyone about Kisame being my brother except for Tsunade but if we encountered the Akatsuki, my secret might be revealed. As if Tsunade could feel the chaos within my mind, she told me.

"I won't force you to accept this mission Michi, but I truly believe that they will need your help to be able to pull it off."

I was grateful for the offer of declining this mission but I also knew she was right, if we wanted this mission to be a success and save Gaara with him still alive they would need my help. But what should I do about my brother?

"I´ll go on the mission with them, I can´t abandon them when they might need me…" I told her somberly. "But what should I do about my brother and the Akatsuki?" I could see that she took my question seriously and when she answered it was with conviction in her voice.

"I believe that you should tell Kakashi about it, he will be able to help you decide the rest. Besides, if you should encounter them and the take you with them, someone needs to know what´s going on and to not follow you."

I thought about it and realized that she was right, Kakashi needed to know. I just hoped that he wasn´t going to be angry with me for keeping it a secret the last three years…

I waited patiently in Tsunade's office for the rest of the team to show up and then I listened as she told them about the mission one more time. Naruto reacted very strongly and Sakura had to follow after him to stop him when he intended to leave right away without packing or anything.

Kakashi and I waited for the dismissal and then we went to our respective apartments to pack for the three day trip to Suna. We met the others by the gate about an hour later and then spend the reminder of the day running.

We didn´t stop for the night until the sun set and after a nice, hot meal, Sakura and Naruto went to sleep while Kakashi stayed awake to watch over them. I had spent the entire day trying to come up with a good way to explain my relationship with one of the Akatsuki members but still didn´t know how to tell him.

But I couldn´t wait any longer and would simply have to hope for the best.

"Kakashi?" I asked hesitantly and with my heart beating one mile a minute.

"Hm? What is it Michi?" He answered calmly.

"I… I have something that I need to tell you…" I admitted shamefully and kept my eyes on the ground. Kakashi looked up from the Icha Icha book he was reading and actually put it away when he saw my somber expression.

"I´m not going to like this are I? He asked me and I shook my head no.

"No, probably not… I´ve kept it a secret for the last three years after all…" I saw when he realized that this was something that had been kept a secret the entire time I had been in Konoha. He gave me a look that clearly told me to tell him, now, so that´s what I did.

"You might have noticed that I´ve never told anyone my last name… Well that´s because of what my last name is and not because I don´t have one like Tenten. I never use my last name because it reminds me so much of my brother…"

"Just tell me Michi." Kakashi told me and I was surprised by the anger in his voice. A sinking feeling in my stomach told me that this probably wouldn´t go as well as I had hoped…

"My last name is Hoshigaki. Kisame Hoshigaki is my older brother and there´s a chance that he and the Akatsuki might come for me because of that." I blurted out and almost a full minute passed in complete silence before Kakashi's reaction came.

But it was not what I had expected.

His expression hardened and his jaw tightened until I thought the bone would crack. I expected him to yell at me but the deadly calm voice he used to speak to me in was even worse.

"And you didn´t think it would be a good idea to tell me this a little sooner? Like, perhaps three years ago?! And what do you expect to happen when I notify the Hokage of your little secret? You´ll be lucky if she only strips you of your ANBU status."

"She already knows… She´s the one who told me to tell you…" I said to him in a small voice, almost feeling afraid of him. His expression went through so many changes that I couldn´t keep track of them all but when he told me in the same deadly voice as earlier I knew I was in trouble.

"Get out of my sight. I thought we were friends Michi but apparently I was wrong, friend's don´t keep secrets like this from each other."

He went back to his book after that, but judging from the grip he had on the thing, anger was bubbling right beneath the surface. So I took his advice and kept out of sight for the rest of the night, staying in a high tree and watching the others from a distance.

* * *

When we reached Suna two days later even Sakura and Naruto had noticed that something was wrong between me and Kakashi. Since Kankuro was slowly dying from being poisoned, Sakura went directly to the hospital to try and save him. And after shooting a nasty look at me Kakashi followed her.

That left me and Naruto to meet with Temari and find out what exactly had happened. I could see on Naruto's face that he was dying to ask what had happened between me and Kakashi but thankfully even he realized that we had to focus on the mission first.

Temari lead us to an office that looked as if it belonged to the Kazekage himself, and it probably did. She sat down on a corner of the desk and started explaining what had happened before we got to this point.

"There were two Akatsuki members, a blonde one who worked with explosives and had a large bird that he could fly on, his name is Deidara. He was the one to battle Gaara and get him unconscious before taking off with him on the bird. The other one looked to be a puppet but I believe that is just armor for protection, his real body was most likely hidden inside. He was the one to set up the traps for the search teams and the one to poison Kankuro. I have spoken with the elders and we believe that the second Akatsuki member was a former Suna ninja named Sasori Akasuna." She sighed and rubbed her forehead before looking me straight in the eyes and telling me.

"I can´t lose my brothers, not like this."

"You won´t have to." I reassured her. "We will do everything we can to save them."

She gave us a weak smile before showing us the rooms we would be using during our stay in Suna. I planned on taking a shower and getting some food before going to the hospital to see if Sakura needed any help and give a report to Kakashi.

But on the other hand… Perhaps it would be better if I let Naruto give the report to Kakashi.

Before I could decide which choice was better, someone knocked on my door and I realized that it was most likely Naruto looking for answers to the animosity between me and Kakashi.

Since the night when I had told him my secret he had only spoken to me when giving orders. Despite the fact that I didn´t take orders from anyone except Tsunade I let him boss me around without complaining. I guess in a way I could understand why he was so angry, he was probably feeling betrayed because I hadn´t entrusted him with the knowledge of who my brother was.

And I suspected that the rest of my friends would react in the same way as Kakashi should they get to know the truth.

But I did have my reasons for not telling them. It seemed as if everyone had forgotten that I hadn´t grown up in Konoha with them, that I had lived through my childhood and early teens in the infamous 'bloody mist village'.

I shook my head to get rid of the many thoughts before opening the door and letting Naruto inside. He was slightly taller than me now and I had to look up a little to meet his eyes.

After closing the door behind him he took a seat on my bed and asked me, unusually serious for being Naruto.

"What happened between you and Kakashi the first night of this mission? And don´t try to tell me that it´s nothing, I´ve never seen Kakashi look at someone with so much anger before."

I felt my eyes tear up despite me willing them not to. If even Naruto and Sakura could see the anger he felt when he looked at me…

"Please Michi, I can´t help you if you don´t tell me what happened?" Naruto said and I could hear from his tone of voice that he really meant it. A single tear fell from my eyes and I looked up at Naruto and asked him.

"I told him something that I have kept a secret since I arrived in Konoha… What will keep you from reacting the same way?"

"Just trust me." He answered.

And I did.

After telling Naruto about the whole mess with my last name, my brother and the Akatsuki I fully expected him to have a similar reaction to the one Kakashi had.

But the trust I had placed in Naruto when I decided to tell him was well placed and he surprised me by staying calm.

"That´s a lot to take in… Especially after three years." Naruto started and I felt my heart grow even heavier before he continued. "But that´s no reason for him to react with so much anger." His amazing blue eyes met my pale golden ones and he asked.

"Why did you keep it a secret for so long though?" I sighed and hid my face in my hands before shaking my head slowly.

"I don´t know… survival instincts perhaps? I know very well what my brother have done and most of it is far from good… But would I have turned out any different if Konoha hadn´t taken me in? You do what you have to in order to survive, it´s as easy as that… And I didn´t say anything partly because of the reactions I knew I would get but also because talking about him makes me miss him even more… He might be an S-classed criminal now but he was my brother first."

I felt tears sting in my eyes and brushed them away angrily, there was no time for all this emotional shit now, we had to focus on saving Gaara. I felt Naruto's arms wrap around me comfortingly and he said.

"I´m sorry Michi, missing your brother and not being able to talk about him at all must be hard on you…" I nodded and snuggled deeper into Naruto's embrace.

"Yeah… I don´t really see him as a criminal you know, to me he´s just my big brother who helped me train and stayed with me at nights when nightmare´s haunted me… But I can handle that, I´m more worried about what to do with Kakashi…"

"Leave Kakashi to me." Naruto told me confidently. "I´ll talk to him and try to get him to realize that there´s no need to be so angry. If we could get him to talk to you I believe that you guys would solve this rather easily."

"Thanks Naruto… Just don´t let it affect the mission, Gaara comes first." I told him and he nodded in agreement.

"I know Michi, don´t worry." And with that he left again and I finally get to have my shower and a hot meal.

* * *

About 72 hours later Sakura had managed to make an antidote for the poison used on Kankuro and therefore also saved his life. But we didn´t have any time to celebrate, we were all preparing to go out after the two Akatsuki members and get Gaara back.

Sakura had equipped everyone going with two vials of the antidote in case we encountered more of the nasty poison. The only one coming with us from Suna was an elderly lady by the name of Chiyo or Chiyo-obaa-san as most called her.

We had received news that team Gai was headed for us to aid us in the rescue mission and that we would probably meet them on the way. Naruto had had no luck talking to Kakashi though so the tension between us was as strong as ever.

Right now I was standing on top of the massive wall that protected Suna both from their enemies and from the desert surrounding it and waited for the others to get to the gate so that we could leave. I noticed the blonde hair of Naruto as he approached me and was therefore not surprised when he was suddenly standing right beside me on the wall.

"How long before we can head out?" I asked him and he told me that the others were on their way as we spoke. But it was another five minutes before we headed out through the gates and in the direction the Akatsuki had disappeared in with Gaara.

When we were finally closing in on their position we encountered a clone of Itachi which stalled us more than I liked to admit. But we were soon on our way again and when we reached the place where the chakra signals were coming from, team Gai met up with us.

We ripped off the seals and then team Gai got preoccupied fighting clones of themselves as the rest of us continued onwards. When we entered the cave a horrible sight met us.

Gaara was on the floor, hopefully only unconscious but what got my blood boiling was that the blonde Akatsuki member, Deidara, was sitting on him. A scary looking puppet stood behind them and suddenly Naruto started yelling at them.

Suddenly Deidara made a bird that scooped up Gaara from the ground and took off with Deidara standing on top of it. Naruto immediately followed and Kakashi did as well before ordering us to stay here.

Sakura, Chiyo-obaa-san and I engaged in battle with the scorpion like puppet and Chiyo-obaa-san used chakra strings to help Sakura avoid being hurt from the attacks from the puppet.

We manage to damage his puppet body enough so that he had to vacate it and using his own body to keep fighting us. But he looked nothing that I would´ve expected him to.

He looked to be much younger than he should have if he really was Sasori Akasuna. He was just a hint taller than me and had red hair in an amazing deep red shade that even surpassed the one of Gaara´s. But something was off with him, and when he moved I saw what it was.

Even his own body had been turned into a puppet.

Chiyo-obaa-san started an argument with him and as they talked I inched closer to Sakura so that I would be able to talk to her.

"Sakura are you okay?" I asked her in a whisper that went unnoticed by the Akatsuki member Sasori.

"Yeah, I´m fine. But how are we going to take him down?" She asked me back, also in a whisper.

"I don´t know, I´m not even sure that we can. That´s why I want you and Chiyo-obaa-san to leave if you get the opportunity to do so, I´ll hold him off so that you can get away."

"No way Michi! I can´t let you do that. If we work together I´m sure we can take him." Sakura told me aggressively and I didn´t argue with her.

The fight started up again and for a while the only thing I had to think about was dodging attacks and attack him myself. I used many different jutsu´s but only those that he couldn´t turn against me and that wasn´t so large scaled that they might collapse the entire cave we were in.

But he was a very skilled fighter, and my chakra reserves slowly but surely got lower and lower.

Suddenly I saw Chiyo-obaa-san collapse and when Sakura turned her back to Sasori to help her; he launched an attack at her that she would be unable to deflect.

In the millisecond I had to react I threw myself in the way of the attack and took the hit in her stead.

The sword that was coated in poison and aimed for Sakura pierced straight through my left shoulder and I quickly used one of my vials to inject myself with the antidote.

"Michi!" Sakura exclaimed from behind me but I kept my eyes on Sasori. His face didn´t show any emotions but his eyes held surprise. I ignored the pain in my shoulder and pulled the sword out before summoning Anda, Bishamon and Chiko ordering them to fight him so that I would get a chance to talk to Sakura.

"Sakura I need you and Chiyo-obaa-san out of here now!" I ordered her but of course she had to question me.

"What!? No Michi I will not leave you! Here let me heal you…"

"No Sakura! Listen to me dammit!" I shouted angrily. "If you don´t leave now you will die. I need you take Chiyo-obaa-san out of her so that she can use her special technique on Gaara when Kakashi and Naruto get him back."

Chiyo-obaa-san´s eyes lit up in understanding and she looked at me with respect filling her old, wise eyes. She managed to get Sakura to leave with her and just as they were about to enter the sunlight that filtered in from the cave´s opening I yelled at Sakura.

"And tell Kakashi that I´m sorry!" She turned around one last time and watched me with tear-filled eyes, she knew as well as I did that the chances that I was coming out of this alive was very small.

But my life being what it was, I had nothing to fear from death so I wasn´t afraid. Only sad that I might die while Kakashi was mad at me and feeling regretful that I wouldn´t be able to rescue my brother after all.

When they had fully disappeared from sight I turned back towards Sasori and dispelled my summons, I needed the chakra for the technique I planned to use next.

I put my hands in the seals and said.

_"Water release: Exploding water colliding wave!"_

Water rushed from my mouth and flooded the ground in the cavern, it didn´t have as much effect on Sasori as I had hoped though… But nonetheless I continued on to the second part of the jutsu.

_"Lightning release: Lightning beast running technique!"_

And just like during the attack on the chuunin´s exam all those years ago, a hound and a leash was formed from the lighting. I did the last part and yelled.

_"Collaboration jutsu: Discharge lightning calamity technique!"_

Everything that was touching the water was electrocuted except for me. But despite the fact that I had poured almost all of my remaining chakra in the jutsu, Sasori walked away almost unscathed.

I fell to my knees and simply watched as Sasori walked closer, he was in no hurry and actually still had that confused look in his eyes. He stopped when he was right in front of me and kneeled down to my level so that he could stare into my eyes.

"You remind me of someone…" He told me and I could see his eyes linger on my eyes and my hair.

"My name… is Michi Hoshigaki." I said to him and stubbornly met his gaze, I might be low on chakra but that didn´t mean I was down for the count just yet.

"You´re Kisame's little sister…" He seemed shocked by the revelation and I used the opportunity given to me to raise my hand to the back of my neck and unseal my katana.

I wielded my katana expertly in my right hand while at the same time jumping up and away from Sasori's kneeling form. I took a protective stance but it was slightly off because of my useless left arm.

To my surprise Sasori didn´t move at all.

He only followed me with his eyes and told me.

"You are a much better kunoichi than what Kisame gives you credit for. Even in Akatsuki there are only a few that can challenge me in a fight the way you have done today."

"Well, maybe if Kisame didn´t leave me nine years ago he might have known me better." I answered sarcastically and rolled my eyes. Sasori simply watched me before slowly standing up and walking towards me.

When he walked I could see that my attacks had done much bigger damage to him than I had first believed, he was almost in as bad shape as I was. I readied myself to attack again when he stopped but he stood just out of my reach and told me sincerely.

"I will not fight you any longer, but we will meet again." He then met my eyes for a brief second before moving faster than I could react and hit a pressure point in my neck that rendered me unconscious.

* * *

I woke to yelling all around me and to the feeling of someone´s arms around my body. My shoulder didn´t hurt any more so I realized that someone had healed me and I wondered what had happened. Had Sasori and Deidara gotten away? Was Gaara okay? Was everyone else?

I forced my eyes open and blinked at the sudden light before I could see the person holding me. Kakashi's serious mask-clad face was hovering above me, his gaze focused on something in front of him but the tight hold of his arms indicated that at least some of his attention was on me.

He looked sad but not devastated as he would have if anyone from Konoha had died. I was worried about Gaara though… We suddenly started walking and I could see that there were a lot of people around us. I could see the giant walls and realized that we were reentering Suna.

I struggled to move or talk so that I could get to know what was happening but the darkness crept closer again and I fell unconscious once more.

The next time I woke up, I was in the bed in the room in the Kazekage tower that I had been using during our stay here. At first I thought I was alone but then I saw the figure sitting in a chair by the window.

I would recognize that gravity defying silver hair anywhere but I couldn´t help but wonder what he was doing here… Earlier he had carried me and now he was watching me as I slept, wasn´t he supposed to be angry with me?

"Michi? Are you awake?" He asked suddenly, his voice resonating clearly through the dark room. I forced my aching body up in a sitting position before leaning back against the headboard and answering him.

"Yeah I´m awake… But what are you doing here?" There was a short, tense silence before he asked me, almost hesitantly.

"Do you want me to leave? I understand if you do with how I have treated you the last few days…"

"No I don´t want you to leave… But I don´t understand, I thought you were angry with me?" I asked and examined my previously injured shoulder to occupy my hands.

"I was angry that is true, but only for a little while. I think I was mostly hurt that you hadn´t trusted me enough to tell me… I didn´t know how to deal with the information you gave me and I´m not proud over the way I treated you during that time…"

"What brought this change then?" I asked him quietly.

"When Sakura and Chiyo-obaa-san arrived to where Naruto and I had taken Gaara, she was almost hysterical because she had to leave you behind. But she and Chiyo-obaa-san got to work on Gaara and then she told me that you had told her to tell me that you were sorry. That´s when I realized that you wasn´t sure you´d come out of the battle alive and I panicked at the thought of you dying while thinking that I was angry at you, when I really only was confused about what to do and how to react. I really am sorry Michi… I fully understand if you won´t forgive me but I still hope that you can find it in yourself to do so…" He told me miserably and I felt a small smile form on my lips.

"Of course I forgive you Kakashi… I will always forgive you…" I told him seriously and asked him to come closer. He complied and I pulled him down on the bed so that he was lying next to me. I relished in the feeling of closeness that was once again there and after a little while he asked me.

"What exactly did happen between you and Sasori after Sakura and Chiyo-obaa-san left? When I first found you on the water filled grounds of the cave, unconscious and bloody I believed you was dead. But you wasn´t and I can´t understand why…"

"I´m not entirely sure either…" I answered softly. "We fought but after a while he recognized my eyes since they are the same as my brothers and when I told him my name he stopped fighting me. He even complimented me for being able to give him a challenging fight, something that apparently not even all members of the Akatsuki can manage. But he also told me that we would meet again before he knocked me out with a hit to the pressure point in the neck."

There was silence for another few minutes before I realized that I still didn´t know what had happened to Gaara and asked Kakashi that.

"Gaara will be fine, Chiyo-obaa-san gave her life to bring him back from death and even though he doesn´t have Shukaku anymore, I believe that everything will work out alright. He isn´t one of the youngest kage´s in history for nothing you know." Kakashi answered and while I felt sad for Chiyo-obaa-san, I also felt relief that Gaara was alive and well.

There was silence again, longer this time and I had almost fallen back asleep when Kakashi asked me.

"The Akatsuki will really come for you won´t they?" I nodded slowly before remembering that he couldn´t see that and answered while half-asleep.

"Yeah, I think they will… And when they do you are not to follow me, let them take me, they won´t hurt me." Kakashi was silent for so long that I wondered if he had fallen asleep or if he was angry again but then he said.

"I get the feeling that you and Tsunade have a plan that has something to do with the Akatsuki… There´s no chance that you´ll tell me I guess?"

"Sorry but no. Tsunade will tell you the plan when they take me though…" I said in an apologizing tone of voice before turning onto my other side, snuggling deeper into the pillow and fell asleep.

* * *

Two days later we attended the funeral of Chiyo-obaa-san before meeting with Gaara one last time before we started the trip back to Konoha. Gai´s team had left the morning after we had gotten Gaara back to report to the Hokage of our success.

Kakashi and I were watching as Naruto and Sakura said their goodbye´s to Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. It was kind of heartwarming to watch.

When they backed off Kakashi walked forward and exchanged a few words with the Kazekage before bowing to Temari and Kankuro and taking Naruto and Sakura with him outside Gaara´s office.

Kakashi and I had agreed on that it would be a good idea to let Gaara in on the plan that Tsunade and I had planned for when I was abducted by the Akatsuki. Kakashi had told Gaara that I needed a word with him in private and after that left the office with the rest of the team.

After a gesture from Gaara, Temari and Kankuro also left the office and Gaara gestured to me to come forward and take a seat in front of his desk as we talked.

"You needed to talk to me about something?" He asked curiously and I sent a quick prayer to Kami or Jashin or whoever was listening that he would take my news well.

"Yeah and I´m not really sure on how to tell you so I´m just going to say it. The Akatsuki member Kisame Hoshigaki is my older brother and I believe that the Akatsuki will kidnap me in a close future. When they do I don´t want anyone to come after me. Tsunade and I both believe that there´s more to the organization than meets the eyes and that several if not all of the members joined because they simply didn´t have anywhere else to go after leaving their villages. We want to try and make them join Konoha in an alliance. And I recommend that you ask Tsunade for the truth about Itachi Uchiha, which will give you a better understanding of what I´m aiming for." I told him and then waited nervously for his reaction.

He was silent for a really long time and when he finally spoke it was only two words.

"I see." Then there was yet another long silence before he nodded slowly and said.

"I understand what you´re trying to do, Suna will not interfere unless we have to but we won´t aid you until you can give us proof that what you´re planning will work either." I bowed thankfully and told him.

"Thank you Kazekage, I will do my best." I got up and turned to leave as well when Gaara´s voice made me turn back around.

"Be careful Michi." I gave him a confident smile before leaving his office and joining my team for the trip back home.

* * *

So what do you think?

Love C


	14. Chapter 14 - Abducted

I do not own Naruto, only Michi.

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 14 – Abducted_

* * *

When we returned to the village Kakashi and I dismissed Naruto and Sakura, allowing them to go home and shower and rest as the two of us went to the Hokage to give our mission report.

Kakashi told her his side of the story and then I told her mine, we even told her about our fight. She listened attentively to us but when we were done she dismissed Kakashi but held me back for a little longer. She secured her office so that we could speak without someone overhearing us and asked me sadly.

"So you really do believe that they will come for you?" I nodded my head solemnly.

"I´m sure that they will, after what Sasori told me there´s no other possibility. But I´m not worried, Kisame won´t let me get hurt, at least not badly and I´m sure that I can get him and Itachi on my side rather quickly. I have already earned Sasori's respect as well so with a little luck they will actually be open to the idea of an alliance when I find out who´s really controlling the organization. My only worry is how I´m going to send messages to you with my progress." I told her and I saw her forehead turn into a frown as she thought about my problem.

"There´s a forbidden technique I could teach you… But I have to warn you that it´s not a pleasant one, it´s forbidden for a reason." She told me in a slightly hesitant voice.

"If it will let me send you messages without being discovered then teach it to me, it can´t be worse than being discovered by the Akatsuki and tortured right?" I told her and she shook her head with a sad smile on her lips.

"That´s true… But I don´t like that you take the thought of being tortured so lightly Michi." She said sadly and I shrugged and told her.

"It´s only pain, no reason to be afraid of it."

"But still… That way of thinking is not healthy. Anyway the jutsu will allow you to write me messages by carving them into your own arm, when you do that the words will appear on my arm as well and I can get to know if you´re alright and how many Akatsuki members that are on your side. You can´t send long messages though…" She explained to me and then taught me the correct seal and the name of the jutsu.

It was called 'Messenger style: Blood writing' and despite being forbidden was very easy to learn. I then told her about my meeting with Gaara and what we had agreed on before leaving to go back to my own apartment.

* * *

The apartment was a little dusty so after a shower and a hot meal I cleaned the apartment. When I was done I sat down on the couch and asked myself why though… What was the point of cleaning when the Akatsuki could come and take me away at any given moment?

I let my head fall back and thought about how I felt about leaving Konoha and all my friends behind.

I would miss them.

But not enough to try and stay here, I would miss them but I wanted to save the Akatsuki more. And it wasn´t like I would never see them again. When I succeeded with my self-appointed mission I would come back and we could all get together again.

The one´s that would be the hardest to leave behind was Kakashi, Genma, Tsunade, Anko, Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke would have been on that list as well, had he been in the village. But he hadn´t returned yet and it wasn´t very likely that he did so before I had to leave.

I glanced around the apartment and realized that if I wanted to be sure that I got my things with me, I should put them in seals on my body to carry them with me the way I always carried my katana. That was enough work with that to keep me busy for the remainder of the day and evening and when I stopped I was absolutely certain that nothing of importance to me would be left behind.

Since it was early summer, the apartment was way too hot to sleep in, especially after moving around as much as I had done. Instead I climbed up on the roof and lay down on my back to watch the stars and the moon for a while, hoping that sleep would come closer if i did so.

The village was calm and quiet, nothing disturbed the peace and I sighed before closing my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again a crow was sitting on the roof beside me. It was watching me with eyes much too intelligent to be those of a birds and I said.

"You can come out Itachi; you might as well talk to me for a while since you are supposed to be watching me right?" At first nothing happened but then there was a small poof and the crow disappeared in a cloud of smoke before Itachi was standing in its place.

He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, had pale skin and black, silky looking hair kept in a loose ponytail. I knew his eyes should be black but right now they were red with the sharingan. His athletic body had muscles of course but not overly so either and only the stress lines on his face indicated how heavy the weight was that he carried on his shoulders.

"How did you know that it was me?" He asked while sitting down next to me on the roof.

"A real crow don´t have eyes that intelligent." I told him simply and went back to stargazing, completely unmoved by the fact that there was an S-ranked criminal who wasn´t really a criminal on the roof with me.

The silence between us stretched on for several minutes before Itachi asked next question.

"Shouldn´t you alert someone that I am here? I am a wanted criminal after all."

"Why bother? I already know that you are going to kidnap me soon. But if you really want me to alert someone I guess I can do that…" I said lazily and yawned. I could feel Itachi's gaze on me and knew that my behavior was unnerving him; it was actually kind of fun.

"And it doesn´t bother you that we are going to take you away?" He asked, real confusion showing in his voice.

"No, not really. I get to see my brother again, that will be kind of nice. And I already know that he wouldn´t allow me to go to the Akatsuki if you planned on killing me so there´s no reason to be worried either. I will miss my friends here though… but I will see them again." I answered him.

We sunk back into silence for a while before Itachi said quietly.

"You are one of a kind Michi…" And then he disappeared in a cloud of crows and I was once again alone on the roof.

* * *

I didn´t tell anyone of Itachi's late night visit. I probably should have but I didn´t, I already knew that they were coming for me so there was no need to make my friends worry more than they already did.

But not knowing when they were going to come for me was starting to grate on my nerves, and I found myself actually wanting them to come just to be done with the waiting.

* * *

I was once again laying on the roof of my building, hoping for the temperature to cool down enough for me to get some sleep when Itachi showed up again.

I looked up at him and when seeing his serious expression I asked him.

"Is it time?" He nodded once.

"It is. Will you come with me peacefully or will I have to fight you?" He asked me calmly but I could see traces of nervousness in his eyes. It didn´t seem like he wanted to fight me and for that I was grateful, I didn´t want to fight him either.

"I´ll come with you, I assume that we´re meeting with my brother somewhere outside the village?" I told him and got up from my horizontal position on the roof.

"We are, in a few days' time. He´s staying behind to make sure that we won´t be followed." Itachi answered and gestured for me to follow him.

I didn´t like taking orders but for now I followed them, I needed at least a few of them on my side before I tried to do things my way. He quickly led me through the village and when we passed the protective walls without being noticed, a sigh escaped me and I felt really grateful for the letters I had given to Tsunade to give to everyone when they noticed that I was gone.

I allowed a few tears escape from my eyes, one for each of my friends that I had to leave behind to be able to do this. I just hoped that everyone would forgive me when we could be reunited again…

Itachi led me seemingly effortlessly through the thick forest and since I didn´t particularly care where he took me right now, I didn´t pay attention to it and therefore had no real idea where we was at the moment when he finally stopped.

We had traveled for several hours without taking one break or sharing one word so I was grateful for the rest despite not knowing how long it would last.

"We will stay here for a few days, until we can be sure that we are not followed." Itachi told me and the world shimmered around us as he tore down a genjutsu that was obviously made by the sharingan since I couldn´t sense it.

The genjutsu was hiding a small wood cabin that looked worn but not abandoned. I figured that it was a cabin used by the Akatsuki whenever they were in the area. I allowed Itachi to once again lead the way as we entered the cabin.

The cabin was one floor and contained a small kitchen, a small bedroom with two beds, a small living room and a tiny bathroom. The walls were bare wood without any decorations, as was the floors and the furniture was sparse but functional.

"Are you hungry?" Itachi asked me surprisingly politely, I had expected to be treated like an object since they had abducted me but failed to explain what they wanted me for. I doubted that they´d want me just because Kisame missed me.

"Starving." I answered and gave him a small smile, deciding to be nice to him since he was nice to me. With a little bit of luck, I could get him on my side even before Kisame returned here.

I was even more surprised when Itachi went into the kitchen and started preparing lunch for the both of us and not ordering me to do it as I had expected him to. I followed him and while I kept my distance, I said to him.

"This isn´t exactly what I had expected when I first thought of the chances that you guys were going to kidnap me."

"Oh really? Then what did you expect?" Itachi asked me back, barely turning his head in my direction.

"More pain and blood for starters, no food and no sleep with barely any water, torture and even death even if i didn´t think that the last one was very likely to happen." I told him and simply voiced every scenario that I had thought of during these last few days of agonizing waiting.

That actually made Itachi turn around and face me fully, his eyes wide and his expression that of shock.

"You were expecting all of that and still came with me voluntarily? Why?" He asked me, his voice full of surprise and his eyes no longer hard and unrelenting with sharingan, but softer and the dark, almost black color that was his own.

I met his gaze, never looking away and never allowing my voice to waver when I told him.

"Because I have nothing to live for, and I don´t believe that the Akatsuki is exactly what it seems to be."

Silence and our breathing was the only things heard in the room for a very long time, Itachi never looked away from my eyes and neither did I. I allowed him to stare at me for as long as he wanted and when his black eyes became red once again, I allowed that to.

It was a weird feeling, being searched with the sharingan. It wasn´t painful or even uncomfortable, instead it gave a feeling that was almost… enjoyable. I knew that he could see every memory of mine and every thought I had ever thought and I actually didn´t mind. I had a feeling that he was only looking at the memories and thoughts that were relevant to this situation but for all I knew he could be looking at every single one of them.

If anyone was going to believe me and help me in my self-appointed quest it was going to be him and my brother.

I knew when he found my thoughts about the Akatsuki since his eyes widened even more and when he found out that the betrayal done to him by the village of Konoha had been avenged, he actually once again shut off his Sharingan in shock.

For another long time there was only silence while both of us kept staring at each other, neither of us turning our gaze away. Eventually Itachi said.

"How? Why?"

Holy shit I had made the legendary Itachi speechless.

"I don´t believe that Pein is the true leader of the Akatsuki as it is now, he himself is being controlled by another person but I can´t figure out who that could be… I believe that if Pein was in control of the Akatsuki as he claims to be, things would be much different. He and Konan are orphans from the war, why would they want more of it? No I believe that what they truly want is peace like the rest of the members do. Most if not all of you joined because you had no other choice, right? Do you believe that if the chance was given to them, that if an offer of peace was given, would they take it?"

Itachi stared at me both long and hard and since I knew that I had only answered half of his question, I kept my guard up. Eventually his gaze softened once again and the tension in his shoulders eased up as he said.

"You are a clever girl Michi, you saw something that most others don´t and if they do, they deem it impossible. You are right, the Akatsuki isn´t what it was meant to be and Pein is being controlled by another person. That person's true name is Obito Uchiha, he is known to the other members as Tobi and to Pein and Konan as Madara. He comes from my family and was a teammate of Kakashi Hatake before he was supposedly killed during a mission when they were young."

"Only he didn´t really die." I concluded, my brain working overtime to be able to grasp what Itachi was telling me as well as the fact that he now knew about why I allowed them to take me and seemed to believe and agree with me.

"Exactly, he was rescued by the real Madara and when he died, he took that name. He has been working behind the scenes to get Akatsuki to follow his biddings since almost before the organization was founded. You´re also right in that all of the current members except for Tobi and Zetzu are here because they have nowhere else to go. Pein and Konan are unofficially the leaders of the small village named Amegakure and they would probably stay there and care for the village. The other six members including myself would very much like it if we could get some peace and stop being hunted like animals."

"I figured it would be something like that…" I said with a small smile and handed Itachi a letter written by Tsunade herself to prove that the offer of peace wasn´t just an empty promise. "So I convinced Tsunade to write this down for you guys."

I saw how Itachi's eyes moved across the paper and I remembered very well what was written on it. It was a formal document, stating that those members from the Akatsuki that wanted it would be getting a position as a Konoha Jounin if they agreed to the alliance I was proposing should be formed between the organization and Konoha village. There was also a small note saying that should my self-appointed mission succeed, Suna would follow Konoha´s lead and also create an alliance with the organization known as the Akatsuki.

"You went through all this trouble for us? Why?" Itachi wanted to know after he finished reading the document that would give him and his comrades their freedom back should they accept my deal. My answer was simple but completely truthful.

"Because everybody deserves a second chance, I was granted that when Konoha protected me from the Kiri hunter-nins and would I have been in a situation any different from you guys had they not done that? I don´t think so."

Silence was upon us again but this time it was a lighter one, a friendlier one. Itachi returned most of his attention to the food he was cooking and said with a smile hidden in his voice.

"I believe you and I will help you accomplish your goal, I have been in the organization since Konoha betrayed me, but I have never truly wanted this lifestyle. I believe that you actually have a chance at accomplishing what you have set out to do and when you need my help, you´ll have it." He halted his movements and said, a little hesitant.

"You never told me why you avenged the betrayal bestowed upon me though…"

I didn´t know how to properly answer that question, but at the same time I knew that I had to give him some kind of an answer.

"Because what was done to you was wrong in so many ways… I personally can´t stand betrayals and that one was the worst I ever seen. I´m not sure that someone could have actually stopped me from giving Danzo the end he so clearly deserved…"

I lowered my eyes to the ground, and let my guard down a little. I felt Itachi's eyes on me again but I didn´t think that he would hurt me just because I lowered my guard a little. I knew I got him curious as to what I had done to Danzo, but those words were some that would never pass my lips. If he really wanted to know he would have to search through my memories with the Sharingan.

He just looked at me for a really long time before he turned back to the food which had to be ready at any minute now, and said to me.

"I´m not going to ask what you did to him, at least not now… But I have to know if there is anyone who can prove that it was you who killed him?"

"Yeah, Tsunade, Kakashi and Genma know it was me. Tsunade because she more or less gave me permission to do it and Kakashi and Genma because they found me when I was trying to get the blood off of me."

"And they won´t tell anyone? There´s no chance that you will get in trouble for doing that later on?" My eyes snapped up to meet with Itachi's and I couldn´t keep the surprise out of my voice when I asked him.

"Don´t tell me that you´re worried about me Itachi, aren´t I supposed to be a prisoner here?" He didn´t answer that so I continued.

"There´s always a chance that someone has seen and recognized me but I don´t think it is very likely that anyone will cause me trouble for killing Danzo." I answered him and waited curiously for his response.

"I just don´t think that I´m worth getting in trouble for…" He said and looked away from me.

"Of course you are, I thought I already told you that everybody deserves a second chance. Besides, I´ll need your help with bringing Sasuke back to the village. Since I have proof that you were innocent in your clan's massacre, I believe that you and I together have the best shot at making Sasuke realize that and go back to the village. And since I did prove your innocence, you will be able to live in Konoha as a free man if I can get my mission to succeed."

He didn´t respond to that but when he handed me a plate of food he told me.

"You really are one of a kind Michi."

* * *

Itachi and I spent five days in the small cabin on our own before Kisame was supposed to show up. I had sent a small message through the forbidden jutsu that Tsunade had taught me, telling her that I was alright, that Itachi already seemed to be on my side and that they shouldn´t search for me.

Right now I was standing in the kitchen, taking care of the dishes after the small lunch I had shared with Itachi. Itachi was sitting at the kitchen table, cleaning his weapons when a sound from outside put me on high alert.

Itachi didn´t seem to have heard it because he continued cleaning his weapons and I sent out a pulse of chakra to see if I could spot and eventually recognize our intruder. Itachi looked up for a moment when he felt my chakra pulse but went back to his weapons when he realized what I was doing.

The large chakra signal that I found made me freeze in place, a million different feelings running through my body, all at the same time.

It was my brother.

I hadn´t seen him since he left me in Kirigakure, nine years ago and the feelings I held for him now was conflicting. On one hand, I was overjoyed to see him again, on the other; I was still upset that he had left me just like that when I was still so young.

I partly understood why he had left, he couldn´t stand staying in the village anymore. I could also get that he didn´t want to ruin my life by bringing me with him when he knew he was going to be hunted by hunter nins.

I just really hoped that he didn´t knew what the village did to me when they found out he left, because if he did know what they were going to do, I wasn´t sure if I would be able to forgive him.

But I wasn´t angry anymore, only sad and confused and wanting answers.

When I heard the front door open I turned back to the sink and busied myself with the dishes again. I felt Itachi's eyes on me and then he rose from his seat to talk to Kisame in the living room.

I realized that Itachi thought that they were out of my hearing range and while Kisame knew that my senses were more sensitive and accurate than other people´s, he had been away for so long now that he hadn´t a clue as to how I had developed and what my skills were. So I heard everything they said, though it was clear that they didn´t know that.

"Did everything go well Kisame?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah but something doesn´t feel right, they didn´t search for her at all but I could see that quite a lot of them were upset that she had been taken away. Did you have to fight her?" Kisame answered.

"No, she came with me voluntarily… That is odd but I wouldn´t be surprised if she had told them not to go after her, she had expected us to come after her and was not surprised in the slightest when I confronted her."

"Really?" Kisame sounded surprised and I rolled my eyes, did he really expect me to be the same person I had been before he left me? I was only ten when he did that for Kami´s sake.

"Yeah, you should probably go and talk to her though… If the look on her face was anything to go by, you two have a lot of talking to do. I´ll go and check the surrounding villages for eventual followers, though I´d be surprised if I found any… That way the two of you can repair the relationship between you before we go back."

"Thanks Itachi, I owe you one. Do you think she´s very angry with me?"

"Don´t mention it, it is as much for her sake as it is for yours. She proved my innocence to Konoha and ended Danzo´s life, she avenged me without knowing me so I am in her debt as well. I don't think she is especially angry but I can be wrong, you simply have to find that one out yourself." Itachi told him somberly and then I felt his chakra signal disappear, leaving Kisame and I alone in the small cabin.

The dishes were done but I stayed in the kitchen, not sure if I wanted to confront Kisame already but still curious as to what he would say and do and as to how he looked nowadays. Was he the same as I remembered or had he changed completely?

I heard a sigh coming from the living room and then heavy footsteps walking in my direction. I felt my shoulders tense and cursed the fact that I was put on edge even by my own brother; shouldn't he be the one person I could be completely relaxed with?

But I hadn´t been completely relaxed since I was little and Kisame was still with me in Kirigakure, since he left me there, I had always held my guard up, not once dropping it completely. Sure I had friends with whom I lowered my guard quite a lot, but I never dropped it completely and it was exhausting in a way only those who trusted no one could understand.

I trusted Kakashi and Genma for example, I really did, but I was still unable to drop my guard completely even with them. I blamed Kisame leaving me for that. I had trusted him completely, a part of my childish innocence staying alive as long as I had him to protect me. but then he left and I was left thinking that if even he could betray me like that, just leaving me like I was nothing, what stopped the rest of the world of doing the same?

That's why I never dropped my guard completely, even if I trusted the person to a 100 %.

I heard Kisame stop in the doorway and I felt his eyes roam over my body, taking in my appearance. I allowed him to do that for a while before I turned around to face him as well.

My eyes searched his form as his did mine, looking for changes and similarities since I had seen him last. He was amazingly tall, standing at 6 feet 4 inches, almost 6 feet 5 inches. His skin was the same pale blue-grey that it had always been and was stretched over bulging muscles, giving him an intimidating frame.

My eyes moved up to his face and the first thing I saw was teeth as sharp and pointy as my own, showing through the small smile that was on Kisame's lips. The gill like markings were there and his golden eyes that was the same shade as my own was the same as I remembered.

His cobalt blue, gravity defying hair was still in the same style and over his shoulder I saw the sentient sword Samehada. There was quite a few scars marring his body, but there was matching ones on mine so I paid them no attention. And then he spoke, his voice the same deep rumble as I remembered.

"Hey Michi… Long time no see right? How are you little sister?"

* * *

So let me know what you think guys? Don´t you think it´s getting exciting? Wondering about what will happen next?

Love C


	15. Chapter 15 - Reunited with my Brother

I do no own Naruto, I only own Michi

* * *

**The story of Michi**

_Chapter 15 – Reunited with my Brother_

* * *

_Recap: "Hey Michi… Long time no see right? How are you little sister?"_

* * *

Kisame's awkward attempt at breaking the ice between us might not have been the best choice of action, but hey, at least he was trying.

"Hello Kisame. Yes nine years in fact. I am quite well, and you?" I was overly formal and polite but I´d rather have this being awkward than him realizing just how messed up I was.

Because despite the anger that I wanted to feel that wasn´t there, and the sadness and confusion that was, I wanted nothing more than him to hug me and tell me that everything would be alright like he did when I was younger despite the messed up reality we were destined to live in.

Because a tiny, broken part of me was still the same child that he had left behind.

"Please don´t be like that Mii… I´m still the same person I was back then, I´m still your brother." He begged me, his voice full of sadness and regret.

"That might be so, but I am not the same child that you left behind." I told him seriously, keeping my voice and face free from emotions. He just looked at me for a really long time before he asked me, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Did something happen after I left? And how come you ended up in Konoha? There were rumors for a while that Kiri hunter nins were hunting you but then they stopped again before I could locate you…"

His question brought me back to when the Kiri leaders found out that he had left and that I was still in the village.

* * *

**Flashback**

_I was woken from sleep harshly when the door to my apartment was broken down. Kiri ANBU entered the room and two of them tore me from my bed and immediately slapped a pair of chakra draining cuffs on me._

_Then they dragged me off to interrogation._

_I was strapped down to a metal chair and left alone in the empty room for hours, wondering what I had done to deserve this. When someone finally entered the room it was a man with a black mask covering his face, the only thing visible were his eyes and the glowing orange of them would haunt me in my nightmares forever after that._

_They kept me in that small interrogation room for an entire month before finally believing me when I told them that I knew nothing about what my brother was doing or why he had left the village. They used every method known to man to make sure that the answers I gave them were the true ones._

_Mental torture. Physical torture. Emotional torture._

_The pain seemed never ending and I tried to take my own life three times, failing every time because my interrogator wanted me to stay alive so that he could torment me some more. Not once during that month was I given a break and when they finally released me, I was only a shell of who I was before._

_My skin pale, my eyes looking dead, my weight non-existent._

_The first week after being released I didn´t sleep and I didn´t eat, I just sat on my bed and stared at the wall in front of me. Zabusa once again had to care for me, and he did so for almost two months before I was remotely back to my old self._

_But the child I had been before my brother left did no longer exist._

* * *

"Did you know what they did to me after you left the village?" I asked him, my head bowed as I remembered the pain I had gone through thanks to him.

"Why would they have done something to you just because I left the village? You were only ten, there´s no way you could have been involved." He responded and I smiled a little sadly.

"Because they believed that I knew why you had left the village and what you were planning to do next." I explained before giving him the gory, nasty details of what had happened. For everything I mentioned, he became a shade paler, until he was pale as a ghost and looking nauseous and horrified.

"I had no idea that they would do something like that… Had I known that I would have taken you with me no matter the consequences." He told me sincerely and I looked him in the eyes and told him.

"Good. Because if you had known that that would happen, I wouldn´t have been able to forgive you for leaving…" Tears gathered in my eyes and I turned my head away so that he wouldn´t see them, ninja´s wasn´t supposed to cry.

But his keen sense of smell picked up on the slight saltwater scent that came with the tears and on instinct he moved closer and wrapped his arms around me in a hug, just like he did when I was little.

"I´m so sorry Michi, Kami I´m so sorry…" He whispered into my hair and then I couldn´t stop the tears anymore.

But a little piece of me healed right there in the kitchen, in my brothers embrace and with tears streaming down my face.

* * *

Later that night, after we had shared dinner, he asked me again what had happened after he left.

"Well Mii, what else happened after I left? When did you make chuunin? Jounin? Have you done any X-ranked missions? Why did you leave the village?"

The stream of questions seemed never ending so I had to stop him to be able to keep up with the answers.

"I made chuunin right after I turned twelve and was promoted to jounin at fourteen. What do you know about X-ranked missions?"

"Wow that´s great Mii! Oh I know what they entail, I had hoped your answer would be no on that question…" He trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"Then you´re probably better off not knowing." I told him honestly and once again found his eyes glued to my face, searching for clues in my emotionless face.

"At least tell me when you did your first one then?" He asked me and I found myself reluctantly answering him.

"Right after I made chuunin, when I was twelve…" I noticed his fists tighten dangerously and quickly answered his last question.

"As for why I left the village… I simply couldn´t take it anymore. I had known for years and years that our village was wrong in so many ways and then the Mizukage ordered me to do something that I simply couldn´t force myself to do…"

There was a tense pause and I took a deep breath before continuing.

"He wanted me to… to kill the children from the clans with kekke genkai´s. Innocent children that wasn´t old enough to have done something wrong… I couldn´t do it, so I left."

There was silence between us again, but this time a comfortable one. After a little while though, Kisame had more questions.

"I get why you left but why did you go to Konoha?"

"I hadn´t intended to, not from the beginning… At first I was searching for you but when the hunter nins found me Konoha seemed like a good idea, I was hoping that they´d accept me as one of their own and they did. They saved me from the hunter nins and gave me another chance at life as well as friends I never had in Kiri."

"Then why didn´t you fight to get to stay? Why come with us voluntarily?" He wanted to know and I explained.

"There was no point in fighting; you would have taken me away sooner or later no matter what I felt about it and I´d rather it happened without bloodshed… I also have my own reason to come with you and it´s not like I will never see my friends again."

"How can you be so sure that you´ll see your friends again?" He asked hesitantly, like he wasn´t sure he wanted to hear the answer. I leaned forward as to make sure that no one else heard my answer and whispered.

"Because I know what´s wrong with the Akatsuki, and I intend to fix it and save you from an early death."

That statement made him look at me with surprise and worry in his eyes, apparently he too knew about Akatsuki not being controlled by Pein as the other´s believed.

But then he was partnered with Itachi, and Itachi had probably told him about what he knew and suspected.

"Are you sure that you know what you´re doing? The real leader is not someone to take lightly. And even if you succeed, what will happen to me? To us? We are still S-classed criminals you know." He asked me seriously and I was overjoyed that he didn´t dismiss me and my idea completely.

"I am. I hope that at least some of you will believe in me enough to help me make the plan succeed. And I have solution for that as well." I answered him and handed him the papers from Tsunade so that he could read it for himself.

He did so in silence and when he gave me the papers back he had a smile on his face and happy tears shining in his eyes. He engulfed me in a hug and said.

"You really are an amazing sister Mii… I am the one that´s supposed to take care of you and yet here you are trying to save me…"

"I can´t help it if you´re the one that needs to be saved Kisa…" I whispered back and a genuine smile grazed my lips.

For now at least, I had my brother back.

* * *

Later that night, when the two of us were sitting on the beds in the small bedroom Kisame asked me another question. He was cleaning and realigning the scales of Samehada and looked up only long enough to ask me.

"Do you still have the katana that I got you Mii?" I nodded.

"Yeah I have it with me everywhere I go, wanna see it? I´m getting worried that the blade might start getting worn and need replacing."

"Sure I´ll take a look." He said and put Samehada to the side for now, looking at me expectantly. I only smirked and touched the seal on the back of my neck, making my katana appear in a poof of smoke.

Kisame's eyes were wide with wonder as I got up from the bed and handed him my katana. The blade that had been black from the beginning had now gotten a deep rust-red tint because of all the blood it had been coated in.

He accepted the katana in his hands without taking his eyes off of me and he asked.

"When did you learn how to make storage seals? Actually what skills do you have? What level are you on?"

"I learned to make storage seals right before I left Kiri, I was fifteen I believe. My biggest strength lies in ninjutsu, kenjutsu and my summons. I have mastered the art of senbons. I´m average in taijutsu and genjutsu. I am actually S-classed just as you are…" I told him a little embarrassed.

"Wow Mii, you sure have been working hard… I didn´t know you had summons, what are they? Do you happen to know who took down the giant snake summon that attacked Konoha during the chuunin exams? And who managed to break down the barrier put up around the Hokage? We could use some information on how to do that since we encounter Orochimaru and his goons from time to time…"

"My summons are ghosts… Yeah I know who it was alright…" I said, even more embarrassed now.

"Ghosts? How the hell did you make a contract with ghosts? Great will you tell me who it was then?"

"I´m not sure that you want to know." I answered both of his questions with the same sentence, and kind of hoped that he would let it go.

"Of course I want to know, I wouldn´t have asked if I hadn´t wanted to know." He said bluntly and looked up from my katana for a moment to meet my eyes.

"I did." I said suddenly, surprising Kisame.

"Did what?"

"I took down the snake summon, with the help of Anko and two of my summons. And I was the one that broke the barrier." I said quietly and kept my eyes on the floor.

"You did that? How?" Kisame asked me unbelievingly.

"Anko distracted the snake summon with snakes of her own while I and my two summons tried to reach its heads to impale the skulls. Too bad we didn´t think of what to do after the snake disappeared in smoke… that fall was nasty… And I interrupted the barriers chakra with a chakra pulse of my own, making it collapse."

Kisame just stared at me in silence for a few seconds after that and I shifted nervously under his gaze.

"You have that much control over your chakra? Don´t you have as much as I do?"

"Yeah I have that much control… I don´t think so… I have a lot more than people normally do sure, but I don´t think I have as much as you. I think it´s the same with our heightened senses; I doubt that your most heightened sense is the same as mine."

"You think so? Well then my most accurate sense is smell, yours?" Kisame asked with eyes shining with curiosity.

"Hearing." I answered quietly. Kisame gave me back my katana, agreeing that the blade could use a replacement soon. I sealed it away again and returned to the bed I was sleeping in, fetching my pajamas before locking myself in the small bathroom.

I took a quick shower and put on my pajamas before halting my movements, simply looking at my reflection in the mirror. Despite everything that had happened and how broken I was on the inside, it never showed on my face and it constantly surprised me.

I went back to the bedroom and lied down on the bed, pulling the cover over myself. Kisame had returned to the time consuming work that cleaning and realigning Samehada´s scales was and was hoping that he had forgotten about the question that I hadn´t answered.

Right when sleep felt the closest, he remembered though.

"Hey Mii you never did tell me how you made the contract with your ghosts?"

I sighed and rolled over on my back, focusing my gaze on the ceiling and remembering the day when I had first met Asa, Anda, Bishamon, Chiko and Kasumii.

* * *

**Flashback**

_I was on one of the training fields in Kirigakure, pushing my fourteen year old body to its limits to make sure that I was ready for the jounin exams that would be held the following week._

_I was so concentrated on my training that I didn´t hear the group of jounin´s that sneaked up behind me._

_Suddenly a kunai pierced my body and I let out a yell of surprise and pain, spinning around to see who my enemy was. Seven jounin´s were standing in a semi-circle around me, all were males and all had an angry expression on their faces._

_"We don´t need some weak little girl playing around among us jounin´s!" They yelled at me and then kunai rained down over me, mixing with kicks and punches._

_I felt like it went on forever._

_When they were finally satisfied and left, I was laying on the ground in a puddle of my own blood, barely breathing. The only sound that was heard throughout the training ground was my labored, raspy breathing._

_And then it stopped._

_And everything around me turned black._

_When the compact darkness gave away, I was in an eerie place. It looked like a graveyard but when I looked up I saw a cave ceiling high above us. We were clearly somewhere underground._

_Everywhere I looked I saw endless rows of tombstones. A dark mist wove its way in between the withering stones and the green light that came from lanterns sitting far apart only increased the feeling of being in a haunted place._

_I blinked and then there was five figures surrounding me._

_All of them dark grey and black, their bodies seemed made out of a thick mist, wispy and untouchable. Their clothes were plain and solid black and three of them had weapons in their hands._

_"Who are you people? Where am I?" I demanded to know, both confused by the situation and a little afraid._

_"We are the guardians of this graveyard, this middle ground for the lost and misplaced." One of the figures told me in a calm, almost serene voice. My eyes flittered nervously from one pair of brightly colored eyes to another asking them the question I wasn´t sure I wanted an answer to._

_"Why am I here?"_

_Another figure caught my attention, a girl from what I could tell, her poisonous looking green eyes locked onto me before she answered._

_"You are here because your heart stopped after the beating you recently took. You my friend does no longer walk among the living."_

_I shiver went through my body and panic rose._

_"What do you mean?! That I´m dead?! I can´t be dead… I just can´t…"_

_I fell to my knees, my arms coming around me in an effort to give myself some comfort. The figured closed in on me and kneeled as well, forming a tight circle around my shivering body._

_"It´s true that it isn´t your time to die, we all sense great things in you and you must live to fulfill your destiny." A male with hauntingly red eyes told me before reaching out with his hand, grasping mine, and pulling me back up on my feet._

_"Accept us as your summons, and you will live to find your future."_

_I whispered shakily._

_"Yes, I accept you as my summons. I want to live."_

_And with that said the five of them, one after another, became half-transparent and merging with me, disappearing into my chest. when all five of them were gone, my heartbeat started up again, resonating louder and louder throughout the now empty graveyard._

_When it was so loud that it hurt my ears, it suddenly stopped and a jolt of pain racked my body, making blackness once again surround me._

_The next time I opened my eyes I was laying on my back on the training ground again, still in a puddle of my own blood. The figure hovering above me, healing me with a gentle blue light streaming from his palms was the same one that had first spoken to me in the graveyard, the man with laser blue eyes._

_When he noticed that I was awake, he introduced the other four standing around us, and after being introduced, they evaporated into thin air, disappearing from view._

_The male with red eyes was named Bishamon, The male with brightly yellow eyes named Chiko, The woman with amethyst eyes called herself Anda, The woman with those sickly lime-green eyes going by the name of Kasumii._

_The blue eyed one who was healing me was named Asa and after he had finished healing me, he taught me how to summon them before disappearing himself._

_I was once again alone, but at the same time not, and I would never be alone again._

* * *

"I died." I answered him simply before turning my back against him, falling asleep before he had time to gather his thoughts.

The next morning I woke up early and quietly escaped from the bedroom. After changing into one of my regular outfits of cargo pants and a tank top in the bathroom I left the cabin entirely to be able to practice a little without waking Kisame up.

I needed to practice my fireball technique if I ever wanted to be able to use it in a collaboration technique.

And since there was a river passing by the cabin close by, I had a place to train in. the first thing I did when reaching the spot I had decided to use as a training ground was to push my chakra out in a shockwave, searching for someone that could be close enough to notice me training.

Since I found none, I started to train, vigorously sending fireball after fireball from my mouth.

A few hours later, I took a break, small burns covering my face and my hands and was surprised to find Kisame sitting underneath a tree, watching me with curious eyes.

He beckoned for me to come over to him and I did so, thinking that I had made him angry for leaving the cabin. But he wasn´t angry.

"I didn´t know that you were a fire user, I would have thought that your primary element would be water." He said after I had sat down on the ground next to him.

"Water is my primary element." I told him as he examined the burns on my face and hands.

"Fire is your second then?"

"No, lightning is my second." I found myself enjoying the way Kisame's eyes grew larger and had to hold back a smile as he asked.

"Third?"

"Wind, Fire is my fourth element and so far I´ve only managed to learn the fireball jutsu." I admitted and looked up at Kisame a little shyly, I knew it was rare that anyone mastered more than two elements and I was trying to master a fourth.

"That is simply amazing Mii, I always knew that you had both talent and intelligence but this is way more than I could have imagined. Maybe you should ask Itachi to help you? His primary element is fire."

"Maybe I´ll do that…" I responded lazily and allowed my body to lean against his. It didn´t matter any longer that he had left me behind in Kiri, because we were together now and I would die before I allowed anyone to separate us again.

We sat in silence for a while before he said.

"No matter how this self-appointed mission of yours goes, I will stand by your side and if I know Itachi, so will he. I just want you to know that no matter what happens I will stand by your side Mii. I will not let us get torn apart again, not by my hand, not by yours and not by another´s." He promised me and I smiled hoping and praying to whatever god there was that I would be able to succeed in my mission to save Akatsuki.

We remained sitting under that tree for most of the morning, talking about everything we had missed in each other's lives. And for every little thing that was spoken, the sibling bond between us became stronger. Strong enough for Kisame to dare ask me.

"So, about what you told me last night… You actually died in order to make the contract with your ghost summons?"

"Yeah I did…" I sighed sadly. "But it wasn´t planned in any way, I was training to take the jounin exams when a group of Kiri jounin´s ambushed me, beating me to death in one of the training fields. I ended up in a really creepy graveyard where I met my five summons and they told me that I was dead but that I shouldn´t be. That I still had things to do in my life. They said that if I accepted them as my summons they would save my life so I did and they held their promise." I explained to him.

He opened his mouth as if to ask something more when my mind picked up on another chakra signal headed our way. I held up my hand to silence him and quickly informed him that a chakra signal was headed our way.

Kisame remained calm and undisturbed though, calming me with the words.

"No need to worry Mii, it´s only Itachi. I might not be a sensory type like you, but Samehada is and she can recognize any of the Akatsuki´s chakra signals for miles. I´m impressed that you already picked up on it though."

I allowed my body to relax a little and settle back against the tree next to my brother, but I was still on my guard and planned on staying so until I knew for sure who it was.

I felt Kisame's eyes linger on the tense muscles in my neck and shoulders but he didn´t comment on my behavior, probably realizing that it was a habit I never would be able to lose completely.

But Kisame had been right; it was Itachi returning to us. He came to a stop in front of us and his eyes went from me to Kisame and back to me before he asked.

"Is everything alright between you two, or do I have to make another round before we can head to the hideout? And why have Michi burns on her face? Isn´t she a water user like you Kisame?"

"We´re good." Kisame answered. "You don´t have to make another round. She is, water is her primary then lighting, wind and now she´s trying to master fire if you want to help her?"

"Hn, I might. But having already mastered three elements is impressive." The Uchiha responded before tilting his head towards the cabin.

"Shall we go and get your thing´s then? We will be able to reach the hideout in only a few days if we start now. Otherwise there´s a storm coming in that will make the journey at least twice as long."

Kisame and I shared a look before getting off the ground and heading back towards the cabin with Itachi on our heels. I couldn´t help but feel a little excited as I searched the cabin for things I might´ve left behind.

Soon I would be able to meet with the infamous Akatsuki.

* * *

Please let me know what you think, I´m afraid that I´m losing my thread in this story so if you have any ideas or comments please let me know.

Love C


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